Into the Labyrinth
by irisgoddess
Summary: Chris Rodriguez has been with the Titan Army for almost a year when he is asked to scout Daedalus' labyrinth. Ethan Nakamura grows fed up with being ignored at Camp Half-Blood, and enters the Labyrinth to find and join the army. Alabaster C. Torrington was sent to negotiate with Geyron, but finds that his way in has disappeared and the only other exit is through the Labyrinth. Once
1. Chapter 1

Christopher Manuel Rodriguez awoke to the sound of Ma Gasket shrieking at her sons. He grabbed his watch from beside his bedroll and checked the time. 6:25. His alarm would be going off in five minutes, so no point in trying to go back to sleep. With a sigh, he pushed himself up and put on a black T-shirt and camoflauge pants, the standard uniform for the Titan army. Taking a moment to stretch, he exited his tent.

Chris emerged and spared a glance at the yellow-grassed field littered with tents. Demigods, monsters, and the occasional nature spirit sped around the base, delivering messages or urging friends to hurry up before morning drills. Chris headed into the wide, earthy clearing where drills were held every morning and afternoon, striding towards a bench near the side.

Before he could sit down, a brunet boy with a look of dissatisfaction on his face marched onto the field and blew a whistle. Soldiers flowed onto the field and arranged themselves into neat rows, standing at attention and waiting for the brunette's orders. He led them through warm-up exercises, then sent the exhausted herd to run three miles.

Chris loved nothing better. He stayed mostly with Hermes kids while running because almost nobody could keep up with them, aside from a few children of Nike or Iris.

"I heard Luke's found a way into Camp," one of his brothers said.

"Yeah right," replied a short girl. Maybe a daughter of Iris? She hadn't been there very long, that was for sure. "If he had, we'd be going through it already." Chris agreed silently. Everyone quieted as they began to run up a hill, desperate not to be left behind. By the time they began to speak again, the topic had been dropped.

* * *

Ethan Nakamura first heard about Luke's disappearance from Kara, the petite brunette in the sleeping bag next to him. It was the Stoll brothers who told everyone in Cabin Eleven that Luke was working for Kronos, a few days later when the panic over his disappearence had calmed slightly. Three months later, it was Kara again who told him that one of the claimed Hermes kids— Chris something-or-another— had run off to join Luke and the Titan lord. The next summer, it was a frightened scream and a murmur through a crowd of campers than told him Thalia's tree had been poisoned— and what were the chances it wasn't Luke? He got to see with his own eyes, through a mess of bodies and orange shirts, that Thalia had been healed. A few weeks later, Kara delivered one last bit of news, on a piece of paper folded next to his pillow and the gap where her sleeping bag had lain:

_Ethan—_

_I'm not sure if we were friends, but I thought you'd be interested: Kronos isn't evil. He's going to make the world a better place for the demigods_ _who join him. No more being neglected by parents who won't even tell us who they are. I don't know how you can find us, but I'm joining the Titan Army and I think you should too. We'll be equal for once, I know how much justice means to you. Think about it, ok?_

Ethan thought about it until Thanksgiving, when another unclaimed demigod vanished. No one really noticed, no one cared that another person had decided camp wasn't good enough. No one ever cared unless it was a kid who had been claimed, in which case his or her siblings cried together in their cabin for weeks. That afternoon, Ethan prayed to Olympus to just let him be claimed, let him have siblings who would cry for him. He had done that a lot since he arrived at camp, more since reading Kara's note. As usual, there was no indication his mother even cared.

The following night, Ethan packed up his duffel and left.

* * *

Geyron reminded Alabaster of a stoplight. The rancher had three bodies, joined together at the hips and the shoulders, each wearing its own cowboy-style shirt. One was red, one was yellow, and one was green, which meant that for three days of negotiations Alabaster had been thinking of busy surface streets in while listening to the man wax poetic on the risks of working with Titans.

"I just ain't getting why you expect me to sell to you. See, my biggest customer is Apollo. All those sun cattle, y'know. If I back you and your masters, I'm gonna lose that. So it ain't worth it." Geyron had given variants of this speech at least ten times, always in the same annoying Texan accent.

"I understand. However, any agreement we make will be entirely confidential, so there is no risk of you losing your clientele." _And more importantly, the Olympians won't know what monsters we have int store for them_, Alabaster added silently.

"But see, I'm gonna need insurance, in case something bad happens. Betraying gods is not light business."

Ah, now the reason for the repeated speech was becoming clearer. "Rest assured, we plan on our account being much larger than Apollo's. Naturally, we will also be paying much more."

"Hmph. And how much, exactly, will you be paying for my services?" Geyron licked his lips greedily.

"The details are still open for negotiation, but I was thinking about a hundred drachmas per head for the smaller stuff, hellhounds and the like, with individual prices set on more dangerous monsters."

"One-fifty, at least! Do you know how hard it is to wrangle with such violent monsters?"

_I'm dealing with one right now, aren't I? _"One-ten."

"One-forty-five."

"One-fifteen."

"One-forty-two."

"One-fifteen is fairly generous."

"I'm not ducking below one-forty."

"One-fifteen, and I go on a day-long quest of your choosing." Alabaster watched as Geyron considered this latest offer.

"Anything I want?"

"Within consideration of the time limit. And I Iris-message my superiors beforehand and tell them the price we agreed on, so that if I don't come back from my quest you can't back out of the deal." The rancher puzzled over these restrictions, trying to calculate how much it was really worth.

"Make it one-twenty and it's a deal." Alabaster extended his hand and received a bone-crushing handshake.

"Well kid," the monster continued. "Eurytion will escort you to your room, and I'll give you your quest at sunrise. Don't be late."


	2. Chapter 2

Chris was eating breakfast in the dining tent when Luke waved him over from across the makeshift room. This wasn't normal at all— Luke barely interacted with his army except to make announcements about the will of Kronos or to welcome new arrivals. Chris moved quickly, afraid of what would happen, but too terrified to dawdle. He abandoned the remnants of his french toast and headed towards the blond in the corner.

"Hey little brother. How's it going?" Luke smiled charmingly and Chris relaxed. Family was family after all, which was probably why Luke wanted to talk in the first place.

"Pretty good. It's been a bit boring, but I guess interesting stuff is gonna come soon."

"That's right. As soon as we get everything into place, we can attack Camp Half-Blood, and then this revolution will really get going."

"I can't wait." Chris was being honest. He'd signed up to fight a war, not sit around waiting for it to start.

"That's what I like to hear! Our biggest problem is, of course, that we can't find a way into their camp. You were there, right? Anything you noticed?"

"No. But there has to be something. I mean, no place is perfect."

"We've got something already, but making it work is gonna be dangerous, so I've been looking around for something safer as we try."

"What is it?"

"You know the story of the Minotaur?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the Labyrinth it was in has been growing over the centuries. There's an entrance in Camp Half-Blood according to our spies, but navigating there is tricky, to say the least."

"How is the army supposed to get there?"

"We're trying to find the guy who made the Labyrinth. Hopefully, he'll have the answers. But scouting for his workshop is going to be risky, and I don't want to force anyone into that."

"I'd do it."

"You would?" Luke let out a dazzling grin. "I was hoping you'd say that. When do you want to leave?"

"As soon as possible." Excitement rushed through Chris' body.

"Is tomorrow good? Eat breakfast before morning drills."

"Perfect." Chris almost ran back to his tent. Thrilled, he began considering what he would need to take with him. His sword was a definite requirement. He would need to wear armor, because all sorts of monsters could be attracted to a stray demigod. He made a mental note to visit the medical tent and grab some ambrosia and nectar. He shoved his spare clothing into the sack as seemed practical.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. He went to the medical tent, and then there was lunch. He had a short break, then weapons training, then some free time, then dinner. There was a short evening drill before lights out. As he tried to go to sleep, all he could think about was his chance to finally make a difference, for the first time in his life.

* * *

Ethan stood on the road outside of camp.

"Stêthi," he whispered, reciting words he'd learned by listening very cautiously to other people's conversations. "Ô hárma diabolês." _Stop, Chariot of Damnation. _

He let a single drachma, cautiously saved for an emergency, slip from his fingers and clatter against the pavement. There was a moment of nothing that made him worry before the asphalt around it melted into a blood-like liquid. He held his breath. From the sludge shot out a taxi made of dark smoke, woven into the necessary shape. _Will that even hold me up? _The words "GRAY SISTERS" were printed in large letters on the side.

An old woman with long, stringy hair that hid her eyes stuck her head out of the window. "Passage?" she said in a mumbling, slurred voice.

"One to the base camp of the Titan army."

"Can't do that," she mumbled while shaking her head. "Can get you to an entrance to the route that will take you there, though."

Ethan nodded his approval, and slid into the backseat. The interior of the cab was also made of smoke, but sitting down made it seem solid enough. It was just like every other cab in most other ways, except for the lack of a plexiglass window to separate him from the drivers.

_Wait, drivers?_ Instead of one woman in the front seat, there were three, all crammed next to each other. They all had the same matted hair and wore matching dresses that looked as if they were made of charcoal gray burlap sacks. Knowing monsters, they might have been. Then the cab began to move.

A recorded voice played as they began to drive, telling Ethan to buckle up. He would have complied, had there been an actual seatbelt instead of a long black chain. The taxi was going much faster than any speed limit, or race car, that Ethan could have imagined. He tried to grip as best as he could.

"Give me the eye!"

"No, give it to me! I'm driving!"

Ethan had done somme reading before calling the cab. The Gray Sisters only had one aye and one tooth between them, and they bickered over them constantly. Perseus— not Jackson, the first one— had stolen their eye and used it as a bargaining chip to get information. Ethan thought that a drachma for a ride was much less disgusting, barring the giant pool of hopefully-not-blood that had opened up upon summoning.

The trip should have taken several days. He didn't know how, and he didn't want to, but they made it to the opposite coast in six hours. He had to go to the bathroom badly by the end of it, but the end result was probably worth it. _Right?_

When the cab came to a stop by a ferry station, he was more than confused.

"What are we doing here?"

"Cross the water," one of the sisters— Ethan couldn't tell which one— said. "Go to the island, and find the delta."

"What island? And what delta?"

"Why, Alcatraz. Oh, and don't let the prison guard get you!" replied one of the others. Then, they disappeared.

* * *

Eurytion woke Alabaster up when the sun had just began to send a few rays above the horizon. The demigod followed him out of the room, grabbing his golden sword on the way.

The quest was given by the shepherd on a hill covered with dying grass, as the two stared down at the pens full of livestock.

"Geryon has recently become concerned about a group of monsters eating the cattle."

"I thought he would be here to discuss these concerns himself."

Eurytion shrugged. "He isn't. In order to pay your debt to him, Geryon wants them alive and in his hands, metaphorically speaking. Actually, they'll be in the kennels." _I understood that._

_"_Is that all?" _It's too much already. Killing monsters isn't hard, but capturing them…_

"You have until sunset. Geryon doesn't like to wait."

"Fine." Eurytion nodded and headed back to the house. Alabaster sighed. Closing his eyes, he felt with his mind to track his assigned prey.

The Mist clung to monsters, just in case they needed shielding from a stray mortal gaze. Ignoring the bits clinging to the sun cattle or the flesh eating horses, Alabaster took deep breaths as he searched for the… Eurytion actually hadn't told him what they were before leaving. He focused harder.

Three Mist-covered creatures were half a mile to the west, too far away to be part of the ranch but close enough to be what Geryon wanted. Alabaster muttered a prayer for luck, and began to walk.

After wandering through the Labyrinth long enough to get to Geryon's ranch, Alabaster could walk quickly enough to get there in a little over ten minutes. Crouching behind a bush, he jammed himself uncomfortably amongst the branches in order to watch unnoticed.

The creatures were halfway between a dog and a wolf, and very, very large. Some horses were smaller than those things. There were three of them, and all three were ripping into the carcass of a bright red cow. Alabaster considered his options. A typical assault wouldn't work, not if he needed them alive. He could try casting a spell to trap them, but it would sap his strength and he wouldn't be able to bring them back to the ranch.

_Decisions, decisions._

A name belatedly slipped into his head. _Crocottas._ Identifying monsters usually helped defeat them, but not with these. There were no dramatic myths about heroes facing crocottas. Most mortals thought they were a misinterpretation of hyenas. _These are definitely bigger than hyenas._

Alabaster suddenly thought an incredibly stupid plan. He traced a large circle on the ground, making sure to leave enough room for all three monsters. Crouching down, he decorated the edges in a mix of Latin and Ancient Greek.

In the middle of working, Alabaster glanced up to see that the crocottas had almost finished their meal. He rushed the last bits of spell-casting. Finally, with no time to spare, he finished. As the monsters ripped the last pieces of meat off the bones, Alabaster stepped into the center of the circle and began to yell.

"HEY DOG-FACES! STILL HUNGRY?" They turned to face him, growling. "COME AND GET ME IF YOU CAN!" They didn't move. For a moment, he worried that their hunger had been sated by the holy cattle. He shouldn't have bothered. They pounced into the circle, nearly catching him before he could leap away. As they attempted to chase him further, they hit the magical barriers that he had put around the circle.

The spell was about to break. He hadn't put much strength into it, since this amazingly idiotic plan only needed him to keep them there for a few seconds, until the second spell could be cast.

"_Domestica, oboedientes autem et amicus." _They stopped snarling and began to give what could best be called smiles through their thick fangs. One burst through the circle's fading defenses to sloppily lick Alabaster's cheek.

"Sit," he said, and the crocottas complied. He couldn't believe it. Hypnotic spells cost almost no magic, but failed ninety percent of the time.

"Heel," he told the monsters, and they fell into line behind him. Together, they began the long walk down to the ranch.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Chris woke up to the beeping of his alarm. It took a few seconds for him to realize the significance of the day. _I'm going into the labyrinth today. Holy cow._

It took him almost no time to get dressed. He grabbed the pack he'd prepared the night before and headed over to the dining area.

The camp was strangely empty. Most people were still asleep, leaving the usually bustling camp nearly silent. He felt strange walking through it, as if everyone he couldn't see at that very moment had suddenly died and he was next. He hurried to the dining area after thinking that.

Luke was waiting for him with a plate full of chocolate chip pancakes, a container of maple syrup, a basket of strawberries, and a canister of whipped cream.

"Come on, little brother. Help me finish these."

"Don't have to ask me twice."

Luke revealed a second, empty plate and slid half the pancakes onto it. He handed it to Chris, who immediately went for the strawberries and whipped cream, leaving the maple syrup where it was. _Chocolate chip pancakes don't need syrup for flavor._

"I see your tastes for topping are the same as mine," Luke said. "Pass me those when you're done."

"'Sure."

"Are you excited to begin your quest today?"

Chris swallowed a bite of pancake before he spoke. "Yeah. I'm really looking forward to it. I started packing right after you told me."

"And that's your pack?" Luke pointed straight at the object in question.

"Um, duh."

"Well, I brought you a better one if you want it. There's also some extra stuff in it, like a prism and drachmas for Iris messages." He grabbed it from underneath the table and interrupted Chris' piggish shoveling of food into his mouth by throwing it at him. Chris managed to grab it, though.

It was made of a nice, black fabric and was somewhat bigger than the one Chris had brought. The supplies that were crammed dangerously in his old pack would fit comfortably there. He went back to his food.

"Thanks dude," he said as he sliced of anther chunk of pancake. "I'll move my stuff into it after I'm done eating."

"Glad you like it."

Sooner than he would have liked, Chris ran out of pancakes. He packed his stuff into the new bag, clothing on the bottom and ambrosia and nectar on top of that. Then he strapped on his armor.

Luke motioned for him to follow. He was led to a rocky cliff face with a Greek letter delta on the side.

"Walk into that," Luke said. "Then you'll be in the Labyrinth. Don't worry, the solid rock is just an illusion. You can walk straight through it."

"Thanks for the help, Luke. I really appreciate it." The older boy smiled in response, and then Chris entered the Labyrinth.

It was bleak and gray, made of rough granite. The chamber he was in had only one path to travel, a tunnel with a rounded roof. He walked through it. As he continued, ceiling dropped lower and lower, until he had to crawl. The sword on his hip and his backpack scraped the sides of the tunnel.

_I hope this is worth it_, he thought.

* * *

Sneaking onto the ferry was easier than Ethan had expected. At first, he had thought to just buy a ticket, but they were sort of out of his price range. To get on, all he did was pretend to be part of a family that had managed to get a deal covering all of their children. Based on their varied skin tones, he guessed it was one of those families with a million adopted children, but he guessed it wasn't really any of his business. As soon as he could, he slipped away.

After using the restroom, he went out on the balcony to enjoy the view. The ferry had a very picturesque route, taking them by the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges as well as Angel Island. Of course, Ethan only new these names because the tourists around him kept trying to figure it out for themselves, loudly and in close proximity to his ears. He thought the boat ride would be much more enjoyable if he was all alone, but that would probably cost more money than he would ever have. _Especially if I die looking for Kronos. _He tried not to think too hard about that.

When they finally docked at the island, Ethan grabbed a map and entered the bookstore where an orientation video was being shown. He zoned out for most of it. _Not my fault it isn't made to handle ADHD demigods. _There were a few interesting factoids sprinkled in, though.

Ethan followed the main body of tourists as they trooped up to the main cell house. Along the sides of the road were flowers, planted in varying arrangements. One tourist pulled aside her husband and daughter to enthuse over some geraniums. They both looked ready to commit homicide.

As he approached the main cell house, Ethan worried about how to find the delta. What did that even mean? He thought there was a delta near the Bay area, but shouldn't that be further inland?

He entered the cell house. There was someone selling audio tours. He considered picking one up in hopes of finding a clue, but it was probably best to conserve his money. He would still need to eat if he didn't find the army.

Alcatraz was big and gray. There wasn't really more to describe. There were interesting signs and props, sure, but the place itself was downright depressing. He supposed that was sort of the point.

It was not too far in that he heard the raspy voice. He couldn't make out any words, nor could he see where it was coming from. There were locked doors in certain places, to keep tourists in areas prepared for their existence. He saw one and walked up to it.

Ethan needed a key that he didn't have. Instead, he took out a Swiss Army knife. It wasn't magical, but he slid the smallest blade he had into the keyhole and wiggled it around, trying to break the lock. He wasn't certain if this would open the door or lock it permanently, but he had no other ideas and there were other doors should the worst happen. But he didn't have the opportunity to find out.

The door swung open from the inside, and a woman with the bottom half of a dragon stood across from him.

"Well, what do we have here?" she said in a raspy voice.

* * *

When Alabaster returned to the ranch, no one was there to see him. He supposed they had expected him to take up more of the time limit, if he came back at all. It was well into the afternoon, but sunset was still a ways off. His stomach groaned as he realized he hadn't eaten lunch. _Maybe Geryon will feed me before he gets rid of me._

"I'M BACK!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, waiting for someone to come out. After several long moments, Eurytion peeked his head out of the door. Alabaster watched as the cowherd's eyes slowly widened, taking in the three tamed crocottas nipping at each others' ears and giddily barking. Composing himself, Eurytion ducked back inside and soon Geryon came out himself.

The three-chested man didn't address Alabaster immediately. Instead, he circled the crocottas and inspected them, muttering under his breath in his Texan accent. Finally, he straightened himself.

"What the heck did you _do _to them?"

"I tamed them."

"Alrighty… but _how_? Will they be like this forever? I got no use for creatures who ain't bloodthirsty. It's bad business." One of the animals is question chose that moment to lick the rancher's cheek.

"The spell will wear off soon. I suggest you contain them before that."

"Eurytion, get on that. Anyways, you best get going soon. I imagine you don't wanna be here much longer."

"Yeah. Sure. How am I getting back?"

"Same way you came— through the labyrinth." Alabaster felt his heart sink. The journey had been rough on him one way, how would he survive two? He tried to keep himself calm.

"I was under the impression you had another way. A safer way. That will, naturally, be necessary for the transport of the merchandise."

"Indeed I do. But see, I'm not gonna let you use that. What if y'all in Kronos' little army start to get ideas? We can't be having that. So you'll have to go the hard way." He smiled. Alabaster felt like punching that smile repeatedly. Unfortunately, that wouldn't do much good.

"Fine. May I have some lunch then? It could be a very long time before I eat again."

"Of course. I'll have Eurytion fry up some burgers after he's done with the crocottas. In the meantime, why don't you pack up your room?" On that note, the conversation ended as Geryon walked back inside. Alabaster followed him, heading to the room he had stayed in the past few nights.

His ambrosia and nectar supplies were almost out due to some very large monster attacks on the way out. He tossed the last bits into his pack anyway. His armor was long gone, ditched to reduce the amount of weight he was carrying. Going back would be horrible, he knew it already. Chances were, he wouldn't make it. _At least I got the deal made._

Tossing his set of spare clothes (washed during the stay at the ranch, thank the gods) into his pack, he began to head into the yard. Eurytion was at the grill, and the scent of cooking meat filled the air.

The cowherd spoke without turning his head. "You'll be leaving after lunch?"

"Yeah."

"The Labyrinth is treacherous."

"I'm well aware of that." Alabaster really wished that he would stop stating the obvious and get to the point already.

"Geryon doesn't want you to make it. The thing is, I do."

"What?"

"I was a demigod once, a long time ago. So I'll tell you a tale that I heard from another guest. You're a powerful witch, right?"

"Yeah, you could say that." _The most powerful son of Hecate ever, actually._

"Well, somewhere in the Labyrinth there's a spell to help you get out. It will only work for you once, but that's enough, now isn't it? Keep an eye out for it, in case whatever else you try doesn't work."

"Thank you. It means a lot."

"No problem. Anyways, your burger's ready."

Alabaster practically inhaled the food. Eurytion escorted him to the entrance of the Labyrinth, leaving him with a brief farewell, He traced a rune for guidance and a rune for protection onto his arm. Then, he entered the maze he'd thought he left behind.


	4. Chapter 4

Chris had been dragging himself through the cramped tunnel for the better part of an hour, and felt no closer to the end than he had for the past forty-five minutes.

_This is my worst nightmare_, he thought. _Just crawling and crawling with no end in sight. I like being able to know where I am. _He pushed— pulled— crawled on, going insane from the monotony.

Inevitably, his mind began to wander. His mom would be missing him. She didn't know where he was because he had decided she would think overthrowing the gods was a bad idea and stop him. If he died down here, starving to death while crawling into perpetuity, she would never know what had happened to him. Had someone from camp told her that he had joined Kronos yet?

Better yet, had the news warranted a trip from his dad? Chris had never actually met Hermes. That was part of the problem. Demigods were supposed to stay loyal to Olympus out of familial love, but the closest thing to that Chris had ever gotten from Hermes was a winged sandal falling on his head on his first day of camp. None of the messenger god's other children had ever been claimed so embarrassingly, Chris had checked. Chances were, nothing he could do would make that pretentious, cadacus-toting, immortal butthole visit the woman he had knocked up a decade and a half earlier.

Anyway, Mary Rodriguez would have spat on his feathery shoes and slammed the door if he tried. She was tough as nails and could kill a tiger with her glare. Chris had stopped calling her "mom" at some point in middle school. Mary somehow fit her better.

There was a light at the end of the tunnel. Chris snapped out of his thoughtful haze and began to crawl with renewed vigor. Unfortunately, crawling is not easy to do quickly. After a few seconds, he eased back into his previous pace and kept his eyes fixed on the bright dot that grew slowly as he continued.

Chris finally shoved himself through the exit, dislodging some rocks as he tumbled to the ground. The sunlight felt white and sharp, and his eyes burned as they adjusted. After blinking the pain away, he took inventory.

His sword had fallen somewhere in the tunnel. He cursed at himself for not noticing. There was no way he could get through this without a weapon. Sighing and ignoring the chasm of fear in his gut, Chris opened up the pack Luke had given him. The ambrosia was a little crushed, but the canteen of nectar was far worse. It had dented and leaked onto the bottom of the pack though a tiny hole. It must have scraped against the roof of the tunnel much more violently that he had thought. Frustrated, he hurled the canteen and watched it arc over bright green grass.

He wondered if that meant he had exited the Labyrinth. He didn't want to climb back through the tunnel. _I might find my sword, though. _ His foot hit one of the rocks that had fallen when he had exited the passageway. Only it wasn't a rock.

It was a child's skull.

* * *

The woman's dragon half was black and scaly, and extended behind her beyond what Ethan could see. Her legs were tangled with hissing snakes that matched the ones on her head in place of hair. Around her waist, where the dragon met the woman, faces of wild animals would randomly bubble up from under the skin every once in a while.

"Hello demigod," she croaked. "What would you be doing in my prison today?"

"I-um. I was looking for something. An entrance to the route that would bring me to Kronos. Am I in the right place?" Normally, Ethan wouldn't try telling a monster the truth, but if he really was going to turn on the Olympians, shouldn't a lot of them be on the same side?

"Ha! A likely story. More likely you want to find a route to him so you can lead an invasion"

"No, please, I'm telling the truth." _I crossed the country for this, please trust me. I can't die before at least reaching Kronos._

"Hm. I don't believe you. So—"

"Please don't kill me!"

"Why not? Wouldn't you kill me if you could?"

"Not if you're on the side of Kronos."

"And if I wasn't? Being a monster means my life is disposable. After all, won't I just re-spawn again? No matter if it means a decade or a century in a place that no _demigod_ could handle. Because poor Kampe can come back there's nothing wrong with that at all."

Ethan said the only thing he could possibly think of, "I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I'm sorry. It sounds horrible, and I'd never even thought about it before. I'm sorry for the few monsters I have killed. But it's things like this— terrible things that just get absorbed into normalcy— that make me want to join Kronos in the first place."

Kampe—_that was what she said, right?_— paused. "Perhaps you are sincere. I can't just take you to Kronos, though. I can put you in a cell, and wait for someone else to make the final decision. Follow me."

Ethan did as she said, and followed her through the myriad cells. Eventually, they reached one that she seemed to decide was best for him, though how she made this decision was beyond him. He stood still as she locked the cell.

"As long as you're still here when I return," Kampe said, "I will consider you honest until proven otherwise." She left him alone.

Ethan tried as best he could to sit still and wait patiently, but soon he was pacing around the cell. It wasn't very big, and a lot of the limited space was taken up by the bed. It wasn't long before he was bored of pacing and instead began to focus intently on inspecting the wall.

He found the little triangle in a few minutes. _It's the Greek letter delta. Is that what the Gray Sisters were talking about? _He toughed it with a single finger.

The wall grinded open like a mechanical door, and Ethan realized the choice he had to make. Had Kampe chosen this cell on purpose, to test whether he would leave? Or was it just a happy accident? Either way, entering would mean he'd lose her trust, and the route to Kronos she had offered. _But Kampe could be lying, or the person she brings in to judge me could make a different decision than she did. And the Gray Sisters told me to do it, sort of. Don't they have powers of prophecy, or something?_

Hesitating slightly out of guilt, Ethan walked through the wall and continued down the stony corridor without even turning to see the wall close behind him.

* * *

The first passageway Alabaster entered was made of striated sandstone, tan and light orange with subtle hints of red. The particulates in the air made his eyes water after a little while, but it wan't unbearable. The air inside was hot and dry. _I wonder if I'm in the desert somewhere. Sure feels like it._

There were many things Alabaster hadn't missed about the Labyrinth, and boredom was definitely one of them. At least a million miles of tunnel was part of the horrible maze, and it often sent him back the way he came without him even noticing. With so much area to walk, and no way to navigate, it meant hours upon hours of wandering blindly with no distractions aside from the occasional monster attack. _That's why I need the spell, so I can get out of here quickly. I'll go crazy if I have to keep going through this alone._

Internally complaining about how long and boring the journey was only made the journey seem longer and more boring. There wasn't much else to think about, though. The rocks and climate around him changed every once and a while, from sandstone to granite to things Alabaster couldn't name. He almost wished that he'd paid attention to all his father's lectures on geology, just so that he could focus on his surroundings instead of ripping his hair out.

_If you wanted me to care about rocks, you shouldn't have named me after one. It was probably to make seem more interesting to you, seeing as rocks are the only thing you care about._

Alabaster stopped himself before his mind completely became focused on chewing out a parent who hadn't even been in the picture since Alabaster had run away, a year ago plus change. It was freeing to remind himself of that, after so long spending all his time full of bitterness. _I don't need you. I never did._

His other parent was marginally better. Gods weren't great to their kids, but Hecate at least acknowledged him when he passed by her at the Titan base, and then there was the fact she was going to battle for her children in the first place. She'd helped Alabaster hone his magic when he'd first arrived. That was the end of his wild fireballs and stray sparks of electricity, and the beginning of being the most powerful witch to ever live.

He still wished there was a good male equivalent for that word, but Hecate had insisted many times that it was gender neutral and not beneath any of her sons, modern connotations be damned.

_Gods above and below and everywhere in between, why does the Labyrinth have to be so boring?_, thought Alabaster as he continued his journey.


	5. Chapter 5

Seeing the skull made Chris scream like a little girl, or a more accurately teenaged demigod. He might have been embarrassed, only it wasn't even big enough to belong to a ten-year old. Some toddler had died right where he was standing, and whatever killed him or her could be there with him. Screaming was one of the least embarrassing or problem-causing things he could have done, especially considering that his spare underwear was soaked with nectar.

Chris was not going back through the tunnel now. A quick inspection of the surrounding rock revealed no sign of Daedalus, so theoretically he was still inside the Labyrinth. How a grassy meadow could exist underground, he didn't know. Maybe if he kept walking, he could find out.

_Gods, why couldn't I at least have kept my sword._ Many of the minor gods had joined the Titan army, but Tyche, goddess of luck, was firmly on the side of the Olympians. Chris muttered a few compliments to her under his breath. A proper prayer would work better, but also serve as a declaration of allegiance to Olympus.

He wished immortal politics didn't have such a dramatic effect on the nature of reality.

The grass grew greener the further he walked. There was no border to the field that he could see, but a structure was visible as a smudge on the horizon. He walked towards it, hoping that at the very least, there wouldn't be a monster inside.

As he approached, the structure began to take shape. First, he saw the slight triangular shape of the roof. Next, the smudge of a wall sharpened into multiple pillars supporting the roof. The inside of the building was left exposed to the open air. As he walked closer, the intricate details carved into it became visible. Inside, there was a statue of a man holding a rod with two snakes and wearing sandals that had wings.

A bowling ball seemed to slide into the pit of Chris' stomach as he realized it was a temple belonging to his father.

He approached the altar carefully.

"Hi, Dad. Can you hear me?" No response came. "I guess if you could, you probably wouldn't answer me anyway. You never have. You know how many sacrifices I made to you at camp? A lot. But you never could give me an answer, could you?" Chris knew that it must have looked foolish, him talking to thin air like that. But there was no one there to see him.

"I knew kids who grew anorexic shoveling all their food into the flames. I almost did, before I realized it wouldn't help." He was frustrated. He'd lost so much in the short time he'd been in the Labyrinth, and nothing exciting had happened yet. Hermes was the god of travelers, and yet Chris' travels so far had been horrible.

"You never could do _anything_ for me, Dad, could you? Not even say hello. Not even tell Mary you were going to leave. You just do what you want, never mind the children waiting for you to step up and be a father." Chris was on the verge of tears. Angrily, he kicked the altar.

The grinding of stone against stone could be heard suddenly. The floor of the temple sunk into a series of wide steps, descending beneath the earth.

_Did I just get lucky? Or is my dad finally listening?_

* * *

Ethan found himself in a smooth passage that appeared to be carved from a single, giant block of marble. Disturbed, he walked as fast as he could without slipping on the smooth surface beneath him. The veins of the marble were faintly colored greenish-blue, making him feel as if he was drowning. He realized he had no clue where the light was coming from, and paled at the possibilities. _Magic isn't good for demigods. Magic means monsters, monsters mean death._

He decided to stop thinking. This was harder than he thought it would be, which wouldn't have been a problem if he could have stopped thinking already. _Arg, why did I even try that? Oh right, monsters and death. I'd almost managed to forget about that._

His breath started to grow irregular from straining to hard. He slowed down his pace. While he would have liked to make as much progress as possible, tiring himself out would cause other problems. As he walked, the veins of the marble became more green than blue, and then began to contain hints of yellow.

He only barely noticed this change, however, and was much more focused on trying to figure out how far he had traveled. _This place is weird. Wasn't this an island? Shouldn't I be in the middle of an ocean right now? _The passage hadn't seemed to be sloped. How long had he been traveling? He cursed himself for not bringing a watch.

The hue of the marble's veins was by now completely yellow, fast on its way to becoming gold. _Are any of these colors even natural? I know there's some variation in marble, but this is kind of extreme._

His walking pace picked up again without him noticing. He wasn't going quite as fast as before, but it would not be mistaken for the walk of someone who felt at ease.

_Orange? I don't know that much about rocks, but I'm pretty certain that cannot exist without something terrible behind it._

It wasn't the brightest sort of orange, but it stood out from the white part of the marble more than any of the other colors before it. As Ethan paid attention, the orange slowly became redder and redder until it it was actually red. Ethan was reminded of blood, and then realized suddenly and stupidly that the colored parts of marble were called veins. It was officially confirmed that it would be best if he could turn his brain off in this sort of situation.

Luckily for Ethan's sanity, it didn't stop at red. A bruise-like purple appeared in the veins not too long after, once the stone was done with all the shades of vintage red in between. This became less and less red until it reached a pleasant indigo.

_I feel like this is building up to something. _Thankfully, he was wrong. The veins proceeded orderly through the various types of blue, then once more became the ocean-like aquamarine that they had been where Ethan entered. There, the eerie marble faded into a yellowish sandstone, and Ethan was glad to cross onto it.

That is, until he entered the cavern with the drakon.

* * *

The sandstone passage inevitable gave way to a new aesthetic, this time grey stone tunnel supported by gothic arches. Alabaster saw torn tapestries on the walls, colors long since faded beyond recognition. Torches lined the walls, but only a few were lit. A rotting velvet carpet covered the floor.

It was in this part of the Labyrinth that Alabaster encountered his first choice. A simple juncture lay before him, with hallways extending to the left, right, and front. He saw a suit of armor standing guard over emptiness in the left one, but otherwise there were no large differences that would help him decide one way or the other.

Being as it was a crossroads, perhaps Alabaster should've expected the family reunion. As it was, when the cloaked goddess appeared, it took his startled him.

Hecate appeared that day as a middle aged woman with dark hair brushing her shoulders. She wore a matronly white dress, covered with ornate silver symbols. Her face had a sculpted look to it, as if carved from marble, and her skin was pale enough for it to be true.

"Hello, my son," she said stoically.

"My lady," replied Alabaster, dropping to one knee.

"You have been gone a long time."

"It has been a week and a half."

"Long enough. The Labyrinth is the sort of place that gives you back within the hour or never relinquishes its grip."

"True enough, my lady."

"Do you wonder why I am here?"

"More than a little, my lady. It is good to see you, but I am confused as to your motives."

"Perhaps I wanted to see my son."

"You have many sons much easier to access. No need for my lady to wait for any of them to stumble across a crossroads just to have a chat."

"None of them are currently in as much danger, either."

"My lady likely speaks the truth."

"Of course I do. Now, I have advice for you, if you would take it."

"I would, my lady."

"Listen to it first. The quickest way to find the spell you have been told about, the handiwork of one of my most powerful daughters, is to the right. However, straight ahead you will find a friend who will increase your chances of survival more than simply making the first step towards questing for the spell."

"And to the left, my lady?"

"The frequency of the suits of armor increases and increases, until you finally hit the sentient ones. Then, you die horribly cursing every god there ever was."

"That sounds like a decent way to die."

"Do not joke with me about such events. I forbid it."

"Forgive me, my lady."

"I must go now. I can see that you have already made up your mind, and once there is no choice to be made my ability to manifest here is weakened. Be careful."

"I will, my lady." Alabaster watched as Hecate faded softly away, as if she had never been there in the first place. That had been weird. _She obviously does care about me. That's nice, considering how many people I know whose godly parents couldn't care less._

Hecate had been right when she had said his decision had already been made. _I want to find the spell, but I want to be alive when I do so. I'm going to go straight._

There wasn't much difference between this hallway and the one Alabaster had come from, but he guessed that would be strange and unnecessary. Eventually, he made it to a wooden door with a pointed top to match the Gothic archway it was shoved into. Pulling it open, Alabaster prepared to meet his new friend.


	6. Chapter 6

Heading down the wide stone steps, Chris doubted himself. _If my dad really did help me out here, was I wrong about everything? He could really care. I might have made a mistake when I followed Luke. Or what if this is a trap? I'm not a friend of Olympus, and some god could've put a big monster at the bottom of this staircase. Actually, that's more likely than Hermes having some big change of heart. I'm walking to my death. I should turn around. Chances are, whatever is at the bottom is also responsible for the child's skeleton I saw. I'm turning around now._

Despite his train of thought, Chris continued to descend. The steps grew narrower and steeper, so that he had to keep one hand on the wall in order not to fall, and then each hand on a wall, until finally he turned around and climbed feet-first like he was on a ladder. Gaslights decorated the walls, allowing him to see dimly.

It slowly became obvious that what had previously been a stairway was now a chute, and that the steps had fully transitioned into stone rungs, each slab about six inches away from the next. Chris was climbing completely vertically now, unable to clearly glimpse what lay below him. That what a little scary, actually, the whole not knowing bit. _The chance of a monster waiting for me just keep increasing. _Somehow, though, he stopped himself from panicking too much.

When his foot touched a rung that was different form the rest, his mind snapped into focus. He continued to lower himself down until he was eye level with the offender— all the rungs he moved onto were of the same variety. They were iron bars, bent into half rectangles and stuck firmly into the wall. The bars were coated so uniformly with rust, however, that stepping onto them they felt like stone.

It didn't take much time before the universe proved to Chris that however much rusty iron might feel like a mock, it wasn't nearly as sturdy. As he shifted his weight onto one of the rungs, it snapped sharply, nearly hurtling him into the space below. A few seconds later, he heard the sound of it landing echo through the chute. _Hey, I'm not that far from the bottom, _he thought, once he processed what he had heard. _I had half believed that I would just be climbing forever. And I didn't hear any monsters react to the sound._

An uncomfortable tug in his arms reminded Chris that he was dangling precariously and that the other rungs supporting him might break as well. Slowly, he got himself past the gap where the broken rung had been. There were no more breaks before he reached the bottom, though several times rungs had made ominous noises when he stepped on them. Tension drained from his body when he reached the bottom safely.

Chris was in what appeared to be a maintenance tunnel. There weren't gaslights here, instead, actual electric light provided orangish-yellow It seemed strange to find something so human after spending so long surrounded by things with the slightest mystical feel. _That's stupid of me. Gaslights were made by humans too, just way back when._

The walls were covered with pipes, valves, boxes, and other things that Chris did not have the knowledge to either distinguish or identify. Graffiti lightly covered walls made of tan bricks, mostly colorful tags that overlapped the pipes. The lights flickered sporadically, not in unison but each individually.

Chris decided to go right arbitrarily, and started to walk.

* * *

Ethan was not prepared to fight a drakon. He considered going back the way he came, but that would only bring him back to Alcatraz, and Kampe was waiting there for any demigod stupid enough to try to go inside. The large serpent pulled itself up, preparing to strike. Before its head shot forward, Ethan ran diagonally, closing the distance between himself and the drakon but avoiding its attack. He swung his sword at its hide.

Nothing happened besides a horrible scraping sound that echoed throughout the chamber. Too late, Ethan remembered that drakon hide was tougher than almost any other known substance, maybe even diamonds. He considered going for the eyes, but he knew that its gaze would petrify him through the power of pure terror.

He tried to gage the distance between himself and the doors that ringed the round sandstone room. Unfortunately, the only open one was the one he had come through, and his skillful evasion had put the drakon in between him and the door. _I am an idiot. I am a giant idiot who needs to think these things through._

The drakon decided to change tactics. Instead of rearing its head up, this time it shot out across the floor and went for a bite. Its fangs bit into his shoulder, but it took him barely a moment to recover and back himself into a corner. _No, no, some god please help me. Mysterious mother I've never met!_

Maybe his prayer worked. Most likely, it was sheer, dumb luck that sent one door flying off its hinges that very moment. From within it came out an auburn-haired boy in a black t-shirt and long camouflage pants. Something glowed on his arm. Upon seeing the drakon, he took something out of his pocket and turned it into a golden sword. Ethan had never seen a gold sword before, only celestial bronze. _Isn't gold supposed to be too soft to do anything?_ _Focus, that's not important. _

The strange boy muttered some expletives under his breath. Then he muttered something else, in Latin, as the drakon tried to attack him. It struck, but seemed to be held back by some invisible dome protecting the boy. He began to look tired, though, so Ethan decided to act.

"H-hey Scales! Yeah you!" The serpent turned its head to the side. Ethan was uncertain what to do next.

"Um, I-I bet your mother— she um," he tried. Luckily for his pride, he didn't have to finish. The boy, having supposedly let his shields drop, had been holding his hand over his sword and speaking more Latin as Ethan taunted the drakon. The blade soared out of his hand, making a beeline for the drakon's eye.

It tried to avoid the projectile, curving its long, fluid neck in every possible direction. But the enchantment had better stamina, and soon instead of a scaly serpent of death there was only a pile of golden dust and a few loose scales that shimmered brightly even in the awful cavern light.

Ethan approached the boy. He was dizzy from the fight, and he had some more difficulty than he was used to when it came to walking in a straight line. He was too confused to be surprised when shadows began to obscure his vision and he fell to the ground. In seconds, he was unconscious.

* * *

Alabaster watched as the Asian boy slumped to the ground. Quickly, he ran over to see what was wrong. Pulling away the younger boy's shirt to inspect a bite on his shoulder. It was bleeding furiously, and there were hints of green on his veins. _Crud. This is not good._

As the boy's eyes rolled back into his head, Alabaster caught a glimpse of a dark blue iris. It was an interesting combination, blue eyes in an Asian kid, but there wasn't much time to ponder it. He was fading fast. Alabaster ruffled through his own pack for the little nectar he had left. Pulling out the thermos, he dribbled a bit on the wound. He wasn't sure how much the kid could take before burning up. When he had put as much as he dared, he pulled it away.

It wasn't working. Looking around, Alabaster decided that the best thing to do would be to get them out of the exposed area before some monster decided to finish what the drakon had started. After enchanting his sword, Alabaster wan't certain he could cast a powerful spell for a little while.

He let the boy lay on the floor as he tested the doors until he found one unlocked. Then, he ran back and did his best to carry the boy into the narrow corridor beyond. Both of their packs were now slung over his shoulders. There were torches on the walls, and Alabaster had trouble avoiding hitting one with his head.

Footsteps pounded against the floor, scaring him. He nearly dropped the smaller boy, but managed to keep his grip. The footsteps slowed and grew softer, but they were definitely approaching the corridor that the demigods were in.

"Hello?," a voice asked, not the raspy croak most monsters made, if they could speak at all, but a grandfatherly sound. "I know someone's there. Do you need help." Alabaster debated whether to answer. On one hand, the younger boy did in fact need help, and there was always a chance that the mysterious man could provide it. On the other hand, not all monsters had scary voices. Cyclopes, for one, could mimic any voice they had heard. But the boy moaned a little in his sleep just as Alabaster thought this. _I can gamble my life, but not his._

"I'm in here. There's another boy with me. He got bit by the drakon, can you—"

"Bring him a little further out. If we can get him to my village quickly enough, I can cure the poison. Hurry up." Once Alabaster came out through the door, an old man in his early sixties, by the look of it, grabbed the unconscious boy and swung him over his shoulder firefighter style. Alabaster was relieved to have the weight removed. He followed the old man through one of the other doors, whose corridor was much more spacious and earthy than the one he had been in before.

The corridor turned gently to the left, the opened up suddenly into an expanse of tiny huts lit by campfires. The old man went into one of them, brushing through a cloth curtain in order to lay the injured boy on a bed, then quickly grabbing a pot off a table to treat the wound. Alabaster stood awkwardly just inside the door, watching the man work.

"Come on now," said the old man after he was done. "Grab a chair, explain what happened to me and I'll give you some answers of my own."

Alabaster did as he was instructed. Quickly, he explained that he was questing in the Labyrinth when he came across the boy fighting the drakon, and then continued the story from there. _No need to tell him who I was questing for, though, it might get me kicked out._

"Well, that's an interesting tale, young man."

"Now maybe you can tell me yours. What is this place? Who are you? How can you cure drakon venom?"

"Yes, I suppose you deserve some answers. My people are the known as the Serpent Born. Many centuries ago, the same drakon you just saw fathered the first of our lineage." Alabaster wondered how that was possible, but decided not to ask. Usually when two things had a baby in Greek mythology, the how was pretty gross. "Since then, we have always had the ability to cure its venom, though any other drakon is still a problem."

"Okay. I guess that makes sense."

"This boy won't be waking up for quite a while. Would you like something to eat?"

"Yes, please." Alabaster hadn't eaten since he had left the ranch. "Could you also get me some food for the road? I don't know the next time I'll find someone friendly." The old man nodded and left the tent.

Not too long later, a young brunette with a bowl of soup entered. "Alexios is still woking on the travel food, but he sent me ahead with your meal. I hope you like chicken noodle." Alabaster assumed that Alexios was the old man.

"Thank you," he said as he relieved her of the bowl. "What's your name?"

"Christina," she replied. "Yours?"

"Alabaster." There was a long pause as both of them waited for a conversation to get going. Finally, Christina gave up and left Alabaster alone with his soup.

It was decent soup. At least it was better than what the Titan Army tried to pass off a meals sometimes, depending on who had dinner duty. Once he was done, he put the bowl down and waited silently for Alexios to get back.


	7. Chapter 7

The flickering lights were starting to get on Chris' nerves. He valued his ability to see, although he hadn't really noticed that until now, because he'd never had much reason too. But somehow the flickering made it even harder to register what was in front of his eyes than it was in complete darkness. At least in darkness, he could've taken out his sword and let the metal glow as a sort of flashlight— _only I don't have my sword anymore, because I got stupid._

He went on a lengthy mental tirade explaining all of his flaws, just as he had been doing every few minutes for a while now. Being in the maintenance tunnel, with no clues on how to navigate except hope he was doing the right thing. Every once in a while, the tunnel intersected another one, and he was faces with three choices, which he tried to vary If he went straight every time, it was most likely to get him into the lair of some monster. If he picked one direction and stuck to it, he'd be led in a circle. So instead he varied going straight and right, taking him an a diagonal path that could wind up anywhere.

The maintenance tunnels were at least clean. Chris was thankful for that, seeing as he could have just as easily ended up in a sewer somewhere. He might prefer the sewers though, if they had half decent lighting. Part of him wanted to punch every single flickering light. Unfortunately, another part of him was sane. He didn't particularly like that part, but it was telling him all that would do was make his hands bleed and remove the few sources of illumination he had.

Sanity was a very trying part of Chris' brain.

_Will all my quest just be walking?, _he wondered. _I had though there would be more action, more fighting. This isn't glamorous at all. Was I stupid for expecting it to be? It doesn't matter, I'm plenty stupid for a lot of other reasons._

Absentmindedly, Chris found himself considering what the stuff on the walls did. He imagined that some of the pipes held water, and the massive wires were most likely carrying electricity. He didn't know why there needed to be so many valves. Of course, he didn't know that much about the way things work in the first place. Chris wasn't stupid, but he wasn't a whiz at this sort os somewhat intellectual stuff either. He didn't have to be.

_Mary was on my case about my grades though, especially right before I left. I hope she doesn't think that that's why— it's been months and I've never thought of that before. Once again, my tiny brain fails to predict the consequences of my actions. She better not blame herself. Mary is fantastic, the best mom I could've asked for. She deserves to know that. Why didn't I think to tell her before I left?_

Chris reached an ugly brown door, and when he twisted the handle, it was unlocked. On the other side, there was a narrow hallway with beautiful arches as supports. The walls and floors were decorated with geometric patterns of white and ombre tiles. He walked through it tentatively waiting for something to happen. Moving forward, nothing did. That didn't quench his fears, though.

* * *

Ethan awoke to see the auburn-haired boy from earlier sitting next to him. On closer inspection, he had green eyes and freckles that covered his face the ways stars covered the sky in photos of places without pollution. Ethan hadn't been to any of those places, but the pictures looked spectacular. The boy, however, looked sullen and stern.

"Hey," the mysterious boy asked. "Are you alright?"

"Who are you and why do you care?"

"My name is Alabaster C. Torrington, and I _care _because you dropped to the floor in front of me a few hours ago and I didn't think you were going to survive."

"Why are you even in the Labyrinth? And where is this place?"

"Promise you won't freak out?"

"I'm pretty good at dealing with stuff." _Jeez, what sort of secret does this guy have if he's so worried about me not taking it well?_

"I'm with the Titan army, under Kronos. I can't tell you why, just in case, but yeah."

Internally, Ethan started to freak out. This guy could take him where he wanted to go? He wouldn't have to continue taking huge risks at every fork? _Fantastic!_

"I'm here because I'm trying to get there, actually. I want to enlist. This is perfect! You can take me on the way back from whatever you're here for."

"I'm done with that, actually. But it doesn't matter. I can't believe you haven't noticed yet."

"Noticed what?"

"The Labyrinth shifts as you go. It's never exactly the same twice. I'm as lost as you are on this one, though I might not be for much longer."

"Why not?'

"There's a spell out there that can help me navigate the Labyrinth. If you're really looking to enlist, you can come with me. Two heads are, after all, better than one. The same is true for swords."

"Yeah- yeah. That'd be great. Let's just go—" Ethan tried to sit up, and black spots with white centers covered his vision with a seizure-inducing display. He held himself upright, trying to wait out the spots.

"Hey, are you okay?" said Alabaster, concealed by the darkness obscuring Ethan's vision.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just really dizzy." The spots began to fizzle out, leaving the top half of his eyes clear, then three-quarters, until finally they were all gone. He made sure to stand up more slowly, and only a few spots danced halfheartedly across his eyes.

"You good to go?"

"Finally. Where's my pack?"

"At the foot of the bed. Here, I've got it." Alabaster handed Ethan the pack, and slung his own over his shoulder.

"Thanks."

"Let's say goodbye to our hosts, and then we can get going."

Ethan let Alabaster do most of the talking, seeing as he'd never actually met any of the Serpent-Born. He forgot all their names a few moments after hearing them. Finally, they were done with courtesies, and the new traveling partners left the Serpent-Born for good.

* * *

Alabaster wasn't sure what to think of his new companion. Ethan seemed nice enough, sure, and probably wasn't planning an elaborate betrayal, but that said nothing about how he would handle when faced with danger. Even if he had all the right intentions, he could still get Alabaster killed. _I should give him a chance before I get too suspicious. There's no point in worrying if it isn't going to change anything. Besides, my mom said he would help my chances of survival._

They walked in silence, aside from the occasional "Watch out for that" or "Dammit I stubbed my toe". It was a little awkward, and it proved Alabaster wrong in his hopes that traveling with somebody else would stop the long, boring silences of the Labyrinth.

"So," Ethan said eventually. "Do you want to talk about something? This tunnel is less interesting than you would think."

"Um, sure. I'm blanking on anything to say right now though."

"Can you tell me what it's like in the Titan army?"

"Sure. It's full of monsters, we all live in tents, the food sucks, and the people are the best you'll ever meet."

"And that's all I need to know?"

"There's more, let me get there. There are morning and evening drills, plus some specialized training in the afternoon. You'll probably end up training in some of your free time, too, because there aren't many other social activities possible. Some of the monsters can be nice, some are horrible, but that shouldn't concern you untill we actually get there."

"You think we really will?"

"I hope so. The spell I told you about gives me hope, at least."

There was a small pause before Ethan spoke again. "Do you know a girl named Kara? She's a daughter of Iris."

"I don't think so."

"Oh. She's the one who made me decide to enlist in the first place."

"Sorry. There are different social groups. I mostly hang out with my siblings and others who enjoy our rebellious ways."

"Um, that brings up two questions. Who's your parent and what the heck is going on with the social order of the army?"

"I'm one of Hecate's sons, hence my skills with magic. I'm actually not to sure about the weirdness of the army's social sector myself."

"Could you try to explain it? Something long and complicated is exactly the sort of thing we need to distract us from the boring tunnel."

"You're right. Well, because Hecate and Hermes are pretty close in number of children enlisted, their kids lead two of the biggest groups. Anybody who can run fast, basically, becomes a jock with the Hermes kids. Your friend is probably with them, because Iris is also a messenger god and her kids likely can keep up."

"And people who can't run that well?"

"Some still end up with that crowd, for other reasons. A lot of the more rebellious ones hang out with Hecate's kids. We kind of include the more punk and skater elements of the army, of which there are a lot because that's the sort of person who ditches camp to be part of a rebellion."

"And that's it? Hermes or Hecate?"

"Not even. There are a lot of people not really in either group, who just hang out with their friends like normal places. It's just that those are the two that stand out from the rest."

"Okay." They lapsed into silence agin.

"Hey Alabaster, tell me about the rest of your journey here."

Alabaster began his story.


	8. Chapter 8

Chris walked into the arena almost without understanding what was going on. He stopped and took a step back a few seconds after he entered through an arched doorway. The arena wasn't large, but had more than enough room for the fight going on in the center: A skeletal warrior with a spear and shield faced off against a frightened satyr who was using his panpipes to make vines explode from the dirt floor. About twelve feet above them, there were several tiers of plain stone benches.

Filling the benches were strange creatures that were half human and half any creature that could be imagined, and not in the neat halves of centaurs or satyrs. These were mindless mashes, leaving the creatures looking strange and malformed. Chris averted his eyes as soon as he processed their shapes, feeling a hint of vomit in the back of his mouth.

Unfortunately, that made him notice the skulls. They were _everywhere_. They lined the railings. They were stacked on the steps between the benches. They were made into chandeliers that hung on the ceiling, or stuck onto pikes behind the seating area. Some were ancient-looking, a strangely impure white that was colored by dust. Others were much more recently dead, and sometimes not perfectly cleaned of flesh. Chris saw a maggot drop from one of the chandeliers onto the arena. It died beneath the heel of the fleeing skeleton.

In the middle of all the spectators, beneath a green banner emblazoned with a trident, there sat a giant man with dark red skin the color of a fresh scab. Across his entire body were tattooed wave designs in dark blue. His only covering was a loincloth, and Chris thanked the gods that he had bothered to wear even that. _There are some things that do not need to be seen in a lifetime._

The crowd went wild as the satyr started to lose energy and the skeleton managed to stab one of the vines until it stopped moving. Chris retreated into the archway, trying to stay out of the way of the fight. The satyr paused his song in order to take a deep breath, and the skeleton took the opportunity. Within seconds, there was goat shish kabob in the middle of the earthen floor where there had once been a nature spirit.

Half the crowd jumped to their feet in excitement, that is, if they had feet. The other half groaned and complained. He could hear some of them exchange bets and argue about how to divvy up their drachmas.

The giant rose to his feet. "Now that our entertainment has concluded, let's greet our guest. Demigod, who are you?" His voice boomed around the arena, taking advantage of acoustics to render a microphone unnecessary.

"Um— Chris. Christopher Rodriguez."

"Son of?"

"Mary Rodriguez and Hermes."

"What are you doing in my arena, Christopher? Have you come to fight?"

"It was an accident. I got lost, I didn't mean to come here."

"But if you're here, then that must mean you were on my territory. Were you traveling across my territory?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know—"

"EXCUSES! You will fight for us, and we might let you leave if you win."

"I don't even have a sword anymore."

"Someone will give you one. You will get five minutes to prepare." Before Chris could argue, the giant sat down.

The crowd began to cheer, "AN-TAE-US! AN-TAE-US!" _Is that his name, then?_

_What am I going to do?_

* * *

Ethan and Alabaster had lapsed into silence as they struggled up a hill. Ethan didn't think it was fair for there to be underground hills, honestly, especially in the Labyrinth. Things were hard enough already when the terrain was even and one didn't have to struggle. If there was a fork in the path, or a crossroads, it was easier to make decisions when not exhausted. At least, that's what Ethan thought. Considering that he and Alabaster had been walking up and sown hills for half an hour, his opinion wasn't exactly unbiased, although it was better researched than most.

"Hey Alabaster, at the top of this one, how would you feel about taking a break?," he asked, in between panting.

"We could. Do you have a water bottle?"

"Yeah. I didn't know where I was going when I left camp, so I kinda brought a lot of things. It's warm though."

"Can I have some when we stop then?"

"Sure. Of course."

"Thanks." They fell silent once again, too tired to keep up any sort of conversation. They were sweaty too, and Ethan wondered if he was going to have to bring out his spare clothes if they kept going like this much longer. _I probably won't. Changing means putting my smelly clothes in the bag, which means stinking up my entire bag just because I can't handle stinking a little myself. I'm not that bad yet, anyway, but I do wish I had though to bring deodorant._

The two boys reached what seemed to be the top—it was hard to tell underground, as they could only see so far ahead of themselves with the light of their swords, and there could easily be a small downhill just to deceive them. Still, the had to stop somewhere before they collapsed from exhaustion. Ethan took a swig of his water bottle before passing it over to Alabaster, who in turn was grabbing some of the snacks from the Serpent Born out of his pack. They shared what the had.

"I'm going to give you some advice," said Alabaster. "Don't burn through your water bottle too quickly. Gods only know how long we'll be down here, and we're going to need that."

"Okay. I think we only drank about a quarter. If we stay stingy, it should last long enough. Hopefully most of the Labyrinth isn't as tiring as this."

"From what I've seen so far, you'd be right. This is just a particularly nasty stretch of maze. With any luck, we should be done with this soon."

"I didn't think demigods on quests had very good luck."

"We don't. We should pack up— if we eat more, we're going to need to drink more, and we need to save the water."

"Agreed." They put everything back into the packs they were in, the picked their way carefully down the hill. At the first one they had gone down, Alabaster showed Ethan how to scoot down the steep parts on his butt, which had the advantage of making it possible to hold up his sword for light while retaining balance. It was more than a little undignified, but Alabaster was doing it too any no one else could see him, so Ethan stopped feeling self-conscious a while ago.

When they reached the bottom, the first thing Ethan noticed was that the tunnel didn't slope upward again. "Alabaster, we did it. We made it though the hard part."

"Ethan, the hard part is monsters. This is just sort of medium"

"That's depressing."

"It's true."

"Well, let's go then. There are monsters waiting to be killed somewhere, and exits waiting to be found," Ethan concluded. Together, the boys walked of to find them.

* * *

The pair of boys found themselves talking about rocks, of all things.

"I'm just saying that this is obviously igneous rock, and that it was made from lava or magma, not from bits of other rocks," said Alabaster defensively, a relaxed grin on his face to show that he wasn't taking Ethan's mistake to heart.

"I was just trying to be poetic. The idea that the rocks around us could be made of rocks that saw great events in human history is pretty cool," countered Ethan, similarly relaxed.

"Yeah, and wrong."

"Just because we're in the wrong tunnel for me to have said that aloud. In a little bit, we'll be in a different tunnel and it will be true."

"No, it won't. The time it takes for those rocks to form, sedimentary or metamorphic, is long enough that there's no chance. Now, if we were on a sandy beach and you said that some of those grains might have seen the fall of Troy, I'd believe you."

"Why do you know so much about rocks? Is geology your heart's greatest passion or something?"

"No. I'm willing to go into any field but that actually. It's what my dad studies, so I'm surrounded by it constantly, but I reject it as much as possible."

"Obviously, that's not very much."

"Well, it's sort of interesting. I just have too much pressure on me from my dad whenever I try to explore it."

"Is that a good reason not to do anything?"

"I'm not avoiding it to be rebellious, I'm avoiding it because it's stressful and my brain can't handle stress."

"I feel you. My dad's an engineer, and I like machines but not as much as he does."

"It's a universal problem. It's also why art will never be replaced by science, because every scientist creates children who reject it."

"Precisely. Hey, do you hear something?" Both demigods went into battle mode, drawing their swords and awaiting an attack. The noise the were hearing sounded like a bird in intense pain. Alabaster figured it was probably the battle cry of some strange beast, which made him very uneasy.

"What was that?," Ethan whispered nervously. Alabaster shrugged. The moved forward slowly, keeping an eye out for the cause of the noise. They eventually came to a tall, narrow circular chamber, with an archway on either end leading to other places. Ethan and Alabaster each leaned against one side of the archway to the tunnel they had just been in, trying not to attract the attention of whatever was inside.

Alabaster didn't see anything. He looked at Ethan as meaningfully as it is possible to intentionally be, and the younger boy eventually noticed. He jerked his head toward the center of the chamber's ceiling.

Dangling from the roof by two golden ropes was a large golden bowl, and inside was a fire. There was a bird burning within it, with gorgeous red and gold plumage and a shimmering blue tail that dangled over the edge of the bowl. It let out a horrible cry.

Alabaster thought it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.


	9. Chapter 9

Chris prepared himself to face Antaeus' champion. His armor was already on, but he tightened the straps and slid them into the right place if they were askew. He was offered a sword by one of the spectators, and he took it. It balanced differently than the one he had lost in the tunnel, but hopefully he would be able to fight well enough to win anyway. _But what if I can't?_

Antaeus called out, "Prep time's over half-blood! Time to face your opponent!"

Chris steeled himself to face whatever came onto to the other side of the pit. The crowd jeered insults at him. He wanted to shut them up so he could focus better, but that wasn't an option. He'd been in so few fights outside of training, and this was nothing like training. _I'm out of my element. And whoever— whatever— I'm facing is probably in theirs._

All these thoughts rushed through his head in the seconds before a gate on the edge of the arena slid open with a rusty scrape.

"It's been a while since anyone faced this one!" Antaeus shouted. "Or fed it, for that matter."

Out into the ring came a white horse with a red head, taller than Chris by about a foot. Its eyes were bright blue, and Chris was so enraptured by its intense gaze that he almost didn't notice the horn. He might not have, if it weren't for the monster charging him at full speed. It was about the size of Chris' forearm, white till about halfway, where it transition to black, and tipped with red. Chris leapt to the side as soon as he realized what was happening.

He could feel the heat of the monster's body as it passed close to him. He fell to the ground and let himself roll twice before pushing himself up. It stood crouching, preparing to spring itself forward again. Chris lifted his sword. He had somehow managed to keep it in his hand throughout his roll. He prepared himself, feeling like a matador in a bad cartoon.

The monster charged again. Chris slid to the side, trying to slice its neck open as he moved. But he was just slightly too fast, and the blade only nicked the hide of the beast. It turned around quickly and tried to stab him again. This time, he couldn't even attempt to land a blow before his instincts moved him to the side.

"MO-NO-KERA-TA!" the crowd began to chant collectively, at the top of their lungs. Chris assumed that was the name of the monster. He supposed that worked better than 'multicolored, deadly unicorn' in the half second he had before the monokerata charged him again. Once more, he made it to the side. This time, he moved as early as possible without letting it change direction and tried his best to bring his sword down upon its neck. He felt a thud as he its back instead.

It crumpled slightly, then tried to get back onto its feet. _I've almost got it. One more charge, and I'll be able to kill it. _It didn't even take that long. As it tried to rush into him again, it stumbled in pain and collapsed to the ground. Chris ran over quickly, before it could get up, and pushed his sword into its neck.

_I won._

* * *

Ethan was horrified. The noises that bird was making were chilling him to the bones. _What is this, some sort of horrible ritual for the god of gruesome murder? Can we get to fight him?_

"It's beautiful," said Alabaster quietly, making Ethan's gut clench as he realized that his new friend may actually by a psychopath.

"What is beautiful about this? That bird's going to die!," Ethan hissed.

"Do you seriously not recognize what's going on here?"

"Obviously not. Care to explain?"

"It's a phoenix. Please tell me you've heard of those."

"Wasn't there one in _Harry Potter_?"

Alabaster sighed. "A phoenix doesn't die, per se, but it does make a funeral pyre fore itself every five hundred years. Then, it's reborn as a baby phoenix from the ashes."

"Oh yeah, I think I have heard of that." Ethan felt kind of stupid for not remembering. "The part where it's beautiful and not horrifying still eludes me though."

"It's just… I can feel the magic being funneled through the phoenix in order for it to do this. Not only is it a lot of power, but the way it's woven together, like making a spiderweb with chopsticks— it's awe inspiring. No human being, or demigod, could ever do anything so intricate."

"So the part that you find beautiful is invisible to me and you still expected me to get that."

"I didn't think that one through. Though the rest of it is pretty good-looking too, it's only the sound that reminds us of the pain it's going through."

"I can't imagine having to burn slowly in order to live."

"You can't imagine flying with wings either, or living for all eternity." Ethan had to admit Alabaster had a point about that.

"What should we do next?," he inquired. "Are we going to cut across the chamber, or stay and watch for your magical curiosity, or what?"

"I think it's almost done," Alabaster answered distractedly, still mostly focused on the incredible beauty that escaped Ethan's eyes. "Would it bug you if we stayed until it was over."

"Fine," said Ethan. He didn't like it, but that was for emotional reasons, not logical ones, and he didn't wan't to pull his new friend away from a once in a lifetime experience. _I don't have to watch, though. For one thing, my neck already hurts._

He sat down, leaning against the wall next to the archway he had just been in. Alabaster's feet moved to take up the space Ethan had just occupied, craning his head in an attempt to get the best view.

Ethan wished that he could see the intense magical light show that obviously was very impressive. A few minutes later, the bird's agonized screams stopped. Instinctively, Ethan looked up to see what had caused the reprieve.

"It's over," said Alabaster. "The baby will come out in a few seconds." They both waited, though neither of them could see the inside of the bowl. The flames died down, darkening the room and revealing that the walls had been glowing with soft white light the entire time.

A small bird perched on the edge of the bowl. Its plumage was not as impressive as it had been as an adult, but it still shimmered like it trapped all the light that hit it. It hopped of the bowl, gliding down to where the boys were watching it and perching on Ethan's knee.

It felt like he was being held by the mother he'd never met, cradled in her arms like an infant. It felt like being told 'I love you' snuggled in front of a fireplace, drinking hot chocolate. It felt like safety. It felt like hope. It felt like happiness. It was the best feeling Ethan had ever felt, and it was indescribable.

Then it left, gliding unsteadily on the air and singing a song that he would never be able to remember the sound of, only that it gave him a weaker version of the feeling he'd had when it touched him.

* * *

Alabaster felt slightly jealous. They had left the phoenix's chamber behind, walking in silence, too awestruck by what they had just seen to make conversation as they walked through a corridor with glowing walls. _I should have been the one the phoenix landed on. I understand its magic, or at least as much as is possible with magic like that, all beautiful and impossible._

The notes of the phoenix's song had eased the jealousy a bit, eased his ability to think at all. Everything he thought was slow and muddled, filled with the emotions of bliss and comfort. _I shouldn't care that it landed on Ethan. It's enough that I got to see its magic. How many people can say that, really?_

Alabaster was the first to be able to speak again. "Good thing we didn't leave."

Ethan took a while to reply. "Yeah. I feel stupid for wanting to, now. You were right."

"I've never felt anything like what I felt when I heard it sing."

"I got a more intense version of that when the phoenix touched me. I just want to feel like that forever and ever, you know?"

"I get it. Somehow I doubt the Labyrinth is going to be the best place for that."

"But maybe after?"

"I hope. It doesn't seem likely but I hope."

"That's one of the things the phoenix felt like, remember? Like hope, only also like a lot of other things."

"Like being loved. Like knowing everything was going to be okay at the end of the day. Those feelings aren't something demigods get very often, just in general."

"Yeah. It felt like my mom finally acknowledged my existence and was being a real mother, like the things human mothers do, but I know that's not going to happen."

"It hasn't worn off yet though, that's the thing. These emotions… they're still there, just weaker Maybe the could be there forever, if we're lucky."

"I hope so, Alabaster. I want that more than almost anything."

But as they walked, they could feel themselves losing it bit by bit.


	10. Chapter 10

The crowd booed loudly.

"Lousy demigod brat."

"The monokerata didn't even finish its last charge!"

"Did you see the way it collapsed? I think the blade was poisoned. Cheater!"

"Nah, it was fair, stupid. But the demigod was supposed to give us a good show, and he didn't. Cantract violated."

"rooooOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!"

Chris did his best to shut out the screaming monsters. What they said didn't matter, after all. In the end, the decision was up to Antaeus.

The red-skinned giant stood up. "DEMIGOD!" he shouted.

"I will give you a chance to explain why you are in the Labyrinth, especially my territory. If I find your explanation unsatisfactory, you will continue to fight for our amusement until you lose. If you can manage to impress me, however, I will let you continue on your journey."

Chris cleared his throat, and tried to think quickly. He failed, and his answer was more or less truthful.

"I'm a scout for a larger army. We're trying to find a route to our enemies. We didn't know for sure that anyone was down here, much less you. That's why I'm here, to try to find a way to navigate and to do our best to avoid marching large armies through someone else's land. At least without warning you in advance that we can't control where we end up yet."

"Do you believe this?" Antaeus spoke to the crowd. There was a loud rumbling noise, but Chris couldn't tell if it was cheering, booing, or a mixture.

"I see. The crowd doesn't trust you, demigod." Chris held his breath. "But I do. Go, now, and if your army comes here they better bring gifts for their host."

Chris let out a strangled 'thank you' and left as quickly as he could, choosing a different door than the one he had come through in order to help randomize his journey. He took the sword he had been lent with him, deciding that he needed it more than any part human monstrosity. _At least, I would hope so. If I ever find myself back, maybe I'll try to give it back._

That sated his conscience for a little bit, although there was still a hint of guilt. It was a nice sword, even if it wasn't quite what he was used to.

He kept walking.

* * *

The two boys found themselves in a hallway filled with doors of all shapes and sizes. There were ornately carved wooden doors with golden handles and knockers, doors painted with multicolored swirls, glass doors, barred doors, arches covered with curtains, and every other door an imagination could dream of, all lining the endless corridor. The wallpaper was black and covered with shifting golden lines.

_A map of the labyrinth, _Ethan realized, and his stomach clenched tightly.

"Curiouser and curiouser," Alabaster murmured. "Anything could be beyond those doors. Why don't we just try going down the hallway, see if it ends."

Ethan was too nervous to speak, but he nodded his head. They walked slowly, mentally trying to catalogue each door. Faint noises came from a few. A gate made of metal mesh had something hissing hungrily behind it. A mahogany door with a silver knocker shaped like a skull muffled applause. Others smelled of sulphur or cookie dough, and one radiated heat. The boys didn't dare tough any of them.

It had been maybe an hour when they admitted the hallway was infinite, and they needed another strategy.

"There was that one door, the plain blue one, that smelled like baking cookies. We could try that one," Ethan suggested.

"Given normal questing luck, the main ingredients for those cookies is probably demigod. Besides, that was a while ago. The labyrinth has probably shifted it since then."

"Well, let's look at the options right here then." There weren't any particularly friendly seeming doors by their stopping point. Alabaster pointed to a red door with a symbol carved into it.

"That rune means safety. I think it's our best option."

"Sure." Ethan reached for the handle, sleek and silver, and stepped through the door.

His foot sank into a soft, shaggy rug. The room he was in was perfectly round, painted with shimmering waves. The floor was made of sand colored tiles, and the rug he was on was shaped like a seashell. There was no furniture, oddly. Ethan turned to talk to Alabaster.

But there was no door behind him.

Alabaster pounded against the wall where the red door had been moments ago. The black and gold wallpaper continued to shift, oblivious to his attack. He didn't know what to do. The other doors were likely dangerous as well, he couldn't go through those. The hallway was infinite.

He was lost, and more than that, he was alone.

* * *

He collapsed. It seemed like ages ago that he had left Geryon. How long had it been? A day? A week? He couldn't remember. The last time he had slept had been with the Ophiogenicus though. He was tired, the sort of tired that made him want to tear his eyes out to stop them from aching. Tears slipped out from under his lids, but it didn't feel like he was crying. He was too tired for any large display of grief, he supposed with the shreds of rational thought he had left.

_If I can't go through any of the doors, or the hallway, I might as well sleep. _Somehow, Alabaster stayed conscious long enough to get his bedroll out of his pack. His thoughts loosened as soon as he closed his eyes and in no time at all he was asleep.

When Alabaster woke, the Labyrinth had shifted. The red door was still there, taunting him over his lost friend, but the wallpaper map and other exits were gone. A wide series of marble archways supporting walls of the same material had taken their place. The floor was red velvet. Alabaster tried the door— still locked. It had been too much to hope anyway.

He began to walk in the direction that he had been going with Ethan before… before all that happened. _Let's not think about that._ The path was much nicer than anything he had seen so far. Knowing the demigod world, it was also more dangerous. _Not that either._

Clearly, managing his thoughts was not going to be easy. It had been nice having a traveling companion. Getting to the Triple-G Ranch had been long, hard, and lonely and for a little while he had thought that the road back would be better. But now… _What the heck is that?_

Normally, the Labyrinth transitioned smoothly between one zone and the next, but here the marble ended suddenly, as if it had hit an invisible barrier. Alabaster was smart enough to know that something bad lay in that direction. Obviously, he kept going anyway.

The new corridor reeked of rotting meat. Alabaster drew his sword and held it in front of him. The gold glittered and lit the way, allowing him to pursue his reckless decision. It was silent. Monsters were not often silent.

"Come in, don't be shy," came the feeble voice of an old man. "I don't get visitors often. What's your name, son?"

Alabaster found it difficult to speak after so long silent, but he managed to respond, "Alabaster C. Torrington."

"How nice. I'm Ophion. Come, I've made tea."

Alabaster cautiously approached. He saw the old man, dressed in the sweatshirt, sweatpants, and loafers of extreme age, sitting by a fire pit over which there was, indeed, a pot of tea hanging delicately on some primitive scaffolding. The old man patted the ground beside him.

"Come, come, come! Don't want to miss it."

"Miss what?"

"My fading, of course! Isn't that why you're here? To say goodbye to an old legend? That fool Pan is planning a big party for a year from now, but I thought I'd just let out a little invitation and see who came. I wasn't expecting a _demigod_, of course. Your sort isn't that attracted to the smell of rotting meat. Still, I guess you'll have to do. Tea?" The old man seemed filled with energy by Alabaster's presence. He held out a cup, rounded without handles like the ones at Chinese restaurants.

"Y-yeah. Thanks."

"No problem, no problem at all. Tea isn't a Greek thing, of course, but I won't be a Greek thing much longer, will I?"

"About that… I didn't come here for your fading. It was an accident, really. I have absolutely no clue what you're talking about."

Ophion's cheer dampened slightly, "It means that I choose to leave this world because I don't have enough belief. Just fade away into oblivion, if all goes as planned. Tell me, do you know who I am?"

"No. Not really," Alabaster admitted sheepishly.

"Precisely! Not your fault, I don't blame you. But before your master— Kronos, that is— I was the big shebang. Boss of everything, except for the things my wife controlled. Dear Eurynome, faded many centuries ago. It's past time I rejoined her."

Alabaster's head worked quickly to process this new information.

"How did you know I work for Kronos?"

"Oh, I know. I had to fight his armies before, when he overthrew me. You have the look." He set down his cup of tea. "Now, are you ready for the main event?"

Alabaster didn't have time to respond before the old man tossed his head back, smiled brightly, and vanished. With him went the stench, but the tea remained. Alabaster finished his cup of tea half in shock from that brief encounter, grabbed his pack, and moved to leave. But his foot hit a piece of paper. He inspected it, and found a perfectly typed note on one side.

_Hey son, I forgot to mention: To find the spell you're looking for, be sure to make the __right__ decisions._

Feeling more confused than ever, Alabaster left.


	11. Chapter 11

Leaving the arena made Chris feel much safer. Somehow he doubted a lot of monsters hung out right near there, seeing as the odds of them getting captured and forced to fight for amusement were pretty good. He walked through a tunnel of blue-grey stone. He ran his finger lightly against the wall until the rough surface made his fingertips grow numb, enjoying the strange sensation. It helped relieve the boredom at least. _I killed something. I won. Maybe I can be a hero after all. _That thought made him feel warm inside.

He didn't even register anything about the tunnels he was walking through. It didn't matter that much anyways, just boring paths through dirt and stone that had to be filled with beings— monsters,gods, and men (not to mention heroes)— to become anything worth exploring. He was there (a man, or a hero) to find the workshop of Daedalus (a man). _And I will overcome monsters and gods to get there. _

His newfound self-confidence faded after a little bit. _I was getting a little full of myself there. All that I can do anything talk is going to lead to me trying something that I can't actually do and dying horribly. I've seen enough movies to know that's true. It felt good, though, being confident. I just have to rein it in enough not to get killed over something stupid._

Even if he was certain that more interesting things would happen to him eventually, the walking around was incredibly unsatisfying. _It would be great if life had a fast-forward button, more so than a rewind. With a rewind, all you can do is fix a small mistake and hope you don't cause weird consequences. With a fast forward, you can almost skip the things that cause tension and stress but still actually get them done. It would be great for school._

He pondered some of the problems with this idea as he headed deeper into the Labyrinth, exited by thoughts that were finally unrelated to his mortal peril.

* * *

Ethan spun around several times, looking for any possible exits, or things that could be hiding exits. He peeked under the seashell rug for a trapdoor, ran his fingers across the wall for hidden buttons, jumped up and down to see if there was a room underneath him or not. There was no trapdoor, the walls were normal, and the carpet swallowed the sounds of his jump so he couldn't come to a conclusion. The only thing in or out of the room was a small pipe, its opening exposed but the main body of it hidden by the wall. _Maybe Mario is gonna come out of that and rescue me, _Ethan thought jokingly.

What came out of the pipe instead was seawater. Not just the water either, but small fish and even a few tiny jellies. Instead of spreading itself across the floor, like it should, the water flowed into a shape. It was about halfway though this process that Ethan realized he was seeing the bottom of a dress, just as the more human-looking parts began to be formed. From her head, in addition to all the normal features, grew a pair of crab claws sticking up like horns. Once her face and hair finish being made, the water stopped flowing from the pipe. What resulted was a woman, decent-looking but not beautiful. She stared at him.

"I see another one has decided to join me."

"Who are you? What are you?"

"I am the sea. I am Thalassa."

"Can I get a better explanation than that?"

"You are sacrifice. You do not need to understand." Ethan was smart enough to know sacrifice was bad, and that he needed to escape.

"Please? I'd like to know who I'm being sacrificed to. So I know why I die."

"There are gods and there are Titans, who rule their domains. I am mine. I am the sea."

Ethan had never heard of anything like that before, but he figured it was probably true, considering how much time he spent actually paying attention to his lessons on Greek mythology. "Okay then. Why do I count as a sacrifice, if I'm not being offered up by anyone?"

"You are being offered by the Labyrinth. Long after my name has been forgotten, I have kept myself from fading by accepting its devotion."

"What if I promised to sacrifice to you every meal I eat for the rest of your life?"

"If I let you go, chances are you'd still die in the Labyrinth, probably before you've even eaten."

_She's right. _"You could take a risk?"

"No. I will not." Ethan resigned himself to an imminent death. Thalassa moved forward— but then the wall broke open, spilling more water throughout the room.

It too formed into a woman, who did nothing more than screech, "Thalassa!"

* * *

The tunnels Alabaster found himself in were dark and dank, tiny corridors made of concrete. He fit, but just barely. The sound of dripping water could ominously be heard in the background, and the dim, yellow-tinted light from his sword did not make the place seem any less creepy.

The note Ophion had given him was stuck in the center of his mind. _What did he mean by that? I'm trying to make the right decisions, but how can I know which ones those are? _The cramped tunnel was also causing Alabaster to feel trapped, even though there were plenty of opportunities to choose a new fork and the ceiling was far above his head. _It's probably just an atmospheric thing. Yeah._

Eventually, he reached a door. Despite his recent bad luck with such mysterious devices, Alabaster opened it and found himself on some subway tracks. More interestingly, there was something else there with him. It was a mammal of some sort, though none Alabaster had ever seen before. It was big, with four legs tipped with sharp claws and jaws made to crush demigods whole. It was grooming itself with its tongue, like a cat, but as soon as it noticed Alabaster's presence it stopped, shifting its weight back as if it was about to pounce.

Instead, it roared. The ground cracked around them, tiny fissures erupting underneath the tracks. Alabaster's ears ached. The creature made a move like it was preparing to roar again.

Alabaster thought as fast as he could, and said,"_Silentium._"The creature tried to roar, but nothing came out of its throat. Alabaster smiled. He was a little early on that, though, because it decided to show him just how sharp those claws were.

Alabaster dodged the attacks with great difficulty, feeling the swipe of its claws against the air three times before going on his own offensive, slashing at its legs. It didn't even flinch, although it stopped trying to use its front paws to attack. Instead, it snapped at him with its teeth, coming so close that he could smell its breath. Alabaster lunged forward and slightly to the right, driving his sword into the side of the monster. He felt gold dust explode onto his face, and the spoils of war left over were just a collection of teeth.

"Hey!" shouted someone.


	12. Chapter 12

Chris was getting sick of wandering pointlessly. He was in an abandoned subway tunnel now— or at least, he hoped it was abandoned. It wouldn't surprise him if trains ran through the Labyrinth on a regular basis just to crush unsuspecting demigods under their wheels. To be safe, Chris stayed away from the tracks as best he could.

There was no chance that this was where Daedalus hid his workshop. Well, there was a chance, but that seemed highly unlikely. Demigods did not have luck, and that would be lucky. The signs were in French and English, so Chris figured he was somewhere in Canada. If he was, then it was either the one warm part or the Canadians heated their subways.

He was walking calmly, hands in pockets, back beginning to get sore from his pack, when he heard the fight. Immediately, he started running, and when Chris started running, he typically got places very quickly. But not quickly enough this time.

Beside the tracks, he saw an auburn-haired boy stab a sword into the side of a large monster that defied description— it was a furry, four legged thing with sharp teeth, like a lot of very dangerous creatures. There were cracks in the ground around the fight, which didn't seem the right size or shape to be gouges caused by the fight.

"Hey!," Chris called out. "Are you okay?"

The boy turned around. "What? Yeah, I'm fine. Who are you?"

They were close enough now that Chris didn't need to shout. "My name's Chris. I heard you fighting that thing, thought I should help."

"Oh. Well, I didn't need it."

"I saw. So, what brings you to the maze of death?"

"I went on a quest. Successfully. But I'm having some trouble getting back."

"I thought all quests had to have three members?"

"The Labyrinth is worse the larger your traveling group. Well, in terms of the shifting. It's a bit easier to kill the monsters with an assistant."

"Do you have anything to help you navigate?"

"Not yet. There's a navigation rune on my arm, but if I said I thought it was doing much good I'd be lying. So, what's your story?"

"I'm questing too, or trying to, but I'm, um, not on that side of the war. I hope that doesn't put you off. I'd tell you what I'm looking for, but if you do make it out, can't risk Olympus knowing."

"Seriously?"

"What? Look, there are a lot of reasons for my life choices. Maybe if I explained them, you'd decide to fight for Kronos too."

The boy rolled his eyes. "It's really not that." He pulled a silver chain from underneath his shirt, from which dangled a set of dog tags.

"Oh. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because if I did and you were from camp, Olympus would know we're looking at the Labyrinth."

"They wouldn't know why."

"They could figure it out pretty easily."

"So, you're headed back to the base?"

"If all works out, which it probably wont."

"I'm trying to get to the center. I guess that puts us in opposite directions."

"So we should travel together."

Chris asked perplexedly,"How did you get the from 'opposite directions'?"

"That way, no matter which way we end up going, we're headed towards someone's goal. Besides, I'm keeping an eye out for a spell I was told could help me navigate for real."

"But won't the Labyrinth get nastier?"

"Slightly. But it'll be less boring too."

"Not the sort of less boring that I want."

"I didn't mean— I meant that we could talk to each other instead of driving ourselves insane with internal monologue."

"Oh. That is the sort of less boring I want."

"Then let's move. Which way are we walking? I just entered through the door on the side there."

Chris pointed in the right direction. For some reason it felt like they were forgetting something important, but he couldn't pinpoint what… _oh. That was obvious._

"My name's Chris, by the way."

"Alabaster."

* * *

Ethan stared at the new arrival. She was more handsome than Thalassa, more dignified, with a haughty face. Her expression was anything else, though: a wide grin stretched across her face. The two goddesses embraced.

"Tethys, it has been a very long time."

"I know. I was just let out of Tartarus, can you believe that? Kronos is freeing all the Titans from the pit?"

"All of them?"

"All the ones that didn't fail him horrible last time."

Ethan felt like a giant third wheel, which was funny because he hadn't even chosen to be there.

"So, who's your guest?" asked Tethys.

"A demigod. I'm accepting sacrifices from a Labyrinth now, can you believe that?"

"Why would you do such a thing?"

"Anything not to fade, you know, Poseidon gives me much less credit than Oceanus did."

"Oh! My husband is preparing an offensive against that little upstart, getting all the old sea gods together for a rumble. You want to help out?"

"I can try. I'm not very powerful anymore."

"Look, I've got orders to recruit some demigods for Kronos. Do you have enough strength to give up this one? I promise to find my own next time." Ethan couldn't believe his luck. This goddess was just going to take him where he wanted to go?

"No," said Thalassa, crushing Ethan's hopes.

"Oh, come on, just one kid?"

"I need my tribute Tethys."

"But Kronos will get mad, and that's really bad." Ethan had an idea.

"Bad for you, and temporarily. Fading is forever." Ignoring their fight, he inched closer and closer to the gap in the wall from Tethys' entrance."

"I'll find you some more!"

"It won't count. You aren't a mortal."

"Neither is the Labyrinth." Ethan was in front of the hole now.

"But it was built by a mortal, and that's enough." He ducked through it, sliding away quietly.

"Thalassa, I'm sorry. I get it, you can— hey, where'd he go?"

* * *

Alabaster listened to Chris describe the mission Luke has assigned, and everything he had gone through to get it. They had been talking for at least half an hour.

"Good thing you killed that monokerata quickly," Alabaster commented. "They have poisonous horns."

"Of course they do. I couldn't just end up fighting a normal monster, could I? Anyways, what's your story?"

"There's a rancher who raises monsters, and I was sent to find him and get him to sell to us."

"How did you manage to get there?"

"Mostly? I ran into some sacred sun cattle that had gotten lost and stuck with them until the rancher sent his lackey to get them. They were too valuable to just let run off.."

"Wouldn't the keeper of sacred cattle be on the side of Olympus?"

"Geryon is on his own side, mostly, and the side of fabulous wealth. He's now getting paid by both sides."

"So, can I hear about the Marvelous Escapades of Alabaster C. Torrigton?"

"Not too much to say about the way in. I may have gotten on the bad side of a volcano goddess."

"Let me hear about that."

"Okay, so the goddess Aitna is the mountain where Typhon— big monster that almost defeated the gods— is trapped. Anyway, her new home is Mt. Saint Helens, and the Labyrinth brought me right to her before I could run hastily in another direction."

"Was she mad at you or something?"

"She was worried about Typhon being freed by Kronos, and wouldn't accept my word that it wasn't part of the current plan. You know, me having reasons to deceive her and everything."

"That actually sounds like a good idea, especially if we drew them to a place where they couldn't defend the Empire State Building."

"I know, right? I'm thinking if I ever get back, I'll suggest it to Luke."

"Alright, so that's all you're going to tell me about your trip to the ranch. What about the way back?"

"Well, I saw this drakon attacking a younger kid, and then I killed it. But the drakon had already bit the kid, so though I was trying to save him, it didn't look good. I try to drag him out of the room where the drakon had been, and then the craziest thing happens…"


	13. Chapter 13

Chris and Alabaster were walking through a tunnel made of red bricks. It was probably more modern— there were graffiti tags ever few feet, and one or two very impressive murals. They had been talking about the Titan Army. Chris was happy to finally have the company of someone who understood what he was missing.

"I kind of miss morning runs," Chris admitted. "I mean, I hated waking up so early but once I started running I could deal with it. And we had the most interesting conversations then."

"Of course you did. You're one of Hermes' kids. Let me say, as someone considerably slower, it sucked a lot."

"Some stereotypes are true then? Hecate kids and their friends just _cannot _keep up with our awesomeness."

"So say all of you, immediately before we hex you into oblivion."

"Please. You're good, but not that good."

"I don't believe that. If we weren't in a constant life or death situation, I'd challenge you to find out for certain."

"If you did, we both know I would win." They rounded a corner together, then stopped abruptly.

"Um, Alabaster, so you know what that is?" Sleeping soundly in the middle of their path was something that looked a little like a deer or antelope, only not. It had tusks, for one thing, though Chris wasn't certain how the tusks could be used considering its horns were much longer and considerable scarier.

"No, I don't know. There are a lot of Greek monsters, and a lot of the seemingly rarer are just bad descriptions of normal animals in far away places."

"So you don't know what to do next."

"Not really."

"Maybe it's friendly?"

"With tusks and horns? Not likely."

"Of course." The monster stirred a little in its sleep, making Chris feel nervous. "Maybe we could just try stepping over it quietly, before it decides to kill us?"

"Yeah. Let's try that. I'll go first." Alabaster stretched his leg over the creature, gently shifted his weight to the other foot, then carefully lifted his other leg over. The monster snorted a little in its sleep, but otherwise didn't react. Chris prepared for his turn.

As best as he could, he tried to do exactly what Alabaster had done. Though they were very close in hight, Chris had shorter legs. He could feel himself almost touching the monster, feel the heat radiating off its body. It was more than disorienting. Somehow, he managed to get his first leg across. He lifted his second leg, quivering slightly in his attempts at balance. He could've made it safely. He almost did. But, just as he was pulling his leg the last little bit across, the tip of his foot brushed the monster's back.

It jolted awake suddenly, pushing itself to its feet and facing the two boys. One of its long horns rotated backwards, while the other pointed straight at them.

"I know what it is now," said Alabaster. "It's an eale."

"How do we kill it?"

"I don't know. It's kind of obscure."

The way the eale was preparing to attack them reminded Chris of the monokerata, only this time he was in a narrow, dark tunnel instead of a wide arena, and there wasn't enough space to pull the same trick as before. Luckily, Alabaster thought more quickly on his feet.

"_Tardus_," he said, then grabbed Chris by the arm and began to run. Alabaster wasn't a very fast runner, so Chris tried to slow himself down a little bit. It was hard not to end up being the one holding them back instead— Chris came in two speeds, long distance and sprinting, and neither matched up well with Alabaster at his fastest.

When Alabaster had begun to slow down due to fatigue, Chris asked,"What was the spell you did?"

"I, uh, slowed him, uh, down," panted Alabaster, having trouble making conversation while he ran.

"I think we can slow down a little. You shouldn't sprint for too long, it's bad for you."

"Being impaled is also pretty bad," snarked Alabaster as he transitioned into a speed walk. The area around them had changed at some point in their run. Having left behind bricks, they found themselves in a cave full of reddish-brown dirt, damp enough to stick to clothing if they sat down.

Then, Chris heard Alabaster gasp in shock.

* * *

Ethan did not expect to came across the hot springs. Ethan had not been looking for the hot springs. Ethan was not in any way responsible for his presence at the hot springs. He had just followed the route the Labyrinth made look most appealing, trying to avoid signs of a major monster encounter. Somehow, though, he didn't think that would make a huge difference to the three very unclothed nymphs shrieking and trying to hide all the important body parts under the water.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean— um, I never know which way I'm going in the Labyrinth— uh, I'll just, um, go. Now. Sorry." He backed away from the angry nymphs slowly, trying not to look at them by focusing intently on the opposite cave wall. They had all managed to submerge themselves to the appropriate level by then, and had begun glaring at him forcefully.

"Not so fast, demigod," said one, with dark olive skin and intricately braided black hair. "You think we're stupid? You came here to glimpse the bathing ritual of the Melissae." _The Melissae, I know this one. Nymphs of… the ash tree? No, that's the Meliae._

"That's like, so not cool," chimed in another nymph, this one with curly platinum blond hair that floated on the water like bubble bath. "It's hard enough to avoid gods who think they can have any nymph they want. Now demigods are trying to sneak peeks too? What's gonna be next? Monsters?"

"What do we have to do? We're already hiding out underground in an enchanted maze to avoid people like you. You'd think the followers of Demeter should get just a little bit more respect.," said the third, with straight brown hair and pale skin.

"Like I said, I'm sorry," said Ethan tentatively. "But this is an enchanted maze, and I can't control where I end up. I'll leave now, and you can continue."

"Puh-lease," said the blonde. "You're just going to pretend to leave and spy on us from further away, creep."

"What— no!" _This cannot be happening. I'm gonna die because of this, of all things. Or maybe just get turned into a stag. That happened to a guy, right? _

"I think we should chase him away for good," said the one with the braids. Before Ethan had the chance to try to defend himself against that idea, the buzzing began. _That's what the Melissae were. Bee nymphs. Bees. Stinging. I need to run._

Ethan ran. He tried not to slip on the slick rock surrounding the hot springs, and each time he fell he picked himself up quickly. Luckily, the steam was disorienting the bees enough for him to stay ahead, although they still matched his speed. He managed to exit the hot springs ahead of them, dodging through passageways with more loose rocks than any other he had been though so far. His feet kept hitting them, and he kept stumbling, but Ethan didn't dare slow down. Even as the buzzing got softer, he was too wrapped up in his panic he didn't notice.

By the time he realized it, the buzzing had actually been gone for a few minutes. _I guess they didn't care about killing me, just sending me away. If they hadn't been so rude, I'd pity them for their bad luck when taking baths. As it is, I think I'll at least reserve judgement._

Ethan paused in a place where the passage opened up, leaning against the edge of the narrow part to catch his breath. He closed his eyes while he did so, and then opened them once he felt good again.

The first thing he saw was Alabaster.

* * *

Alabaster could not believe what he was seeing. Ethan looked more tired and ragged than he had been before going through the red door, but otherwise… he was exactly the same. Alabaster hadn't thought he'd ever see the boy again.

"Who are you? What's going on?" said Chris, snapping Alabaster out of his daze.

"It's okay. He's a friend. We met in the Labyrinth before, then got separated." He turned to look at Ethan. "Nice to see you again. This is Chris, by the way."

"My name is Ethan, if you care." His voice was weak.

"Are you okay?" Alabaster asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I just had a run in with some bee nymphs. Got stung a few times."

"Are you good to walk? Because we should get going, before any major shifts," said Chris with a hint of nervousness.

"I'm good. But if I came from one direction and you came from the other, which way should we go?" Alabaster let this realization sink in.

_Shoot. We're stuck. _He slid to the ground.

"We could sit it out and hope for a shift to give us the way out," he offered glumly. "But we might just end up really dead."

The other two sat down as well, trying to think of a better solution. They sat in a tense silence for a while.

"I don't think we're going to come up with anything better," said Chris, first to break the still air. "But we could talk instead of just sitting here."

Ethan waved his hand in the air, encouraging him to go on.

"Well, um. Where are you from? Why are you here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"We have plenty of time. But I asked first." Alabaster could almost feel the dislike building between the two of them.

"I lived in Camp Half-Blood year round. But I got sick of that and decided to join up with Kronos instead. Your turn."

"I'm already part of Kronos' army. I was sent down here to find the owner of the Labyrinth or his workshop, so that we can find a way to navigate it safely. Who did you say your godly parent was again?"

"I didn't. I was unclaimed."

"Well, mine's Hermes. Luke Castellan's my brother."

"I was smart enough to figure that out myself, thanks."

Alabaster decided to intervene. "So Ethan, how exactly did you upset those bee nymphs?"

The Japanese boy glanced away from Chris to receive the question, "I stumbled into a hot springs. They weren't fully clothed. They didn't like that."

Alabaster let the corners of his mouth twitch upward, but otherwise tried to keep a straight face. Chris was not so courteous. He let out a loud snort, followed by near-silent giggles that shook his whole body. Ethan gave him a death glare.

"What?" he defended himself. "It's a funny story. Not so funny when it happened, probably, but funny now."

Ethan continued his glare, "It happened about fifteen minutes ago. Still not funny."

"Speaking of which," Alabaster tried to diffuse the tension. "Shouldn't we pick a direction to go in now? If a shift was going to happen, it's probably happened."

Chris pushed himself to his feet immediately. Ethan gave a small nod before doing the same. Once they were all up, Alabaster decided it was best to choose the direction himself, to avoid the possibility of an argument between Chris and Ethan.

"Come on, guys. Let's go the way me and Chris came from."


	14. Chapter 14

Chris didn't like the look of Ethan. There wasn't anything in particular, just the way he held himself or something. Chris couldn't describe it, and then there were the creepy blue eyes. What sort of Asian kid had blue eyes? Of course, it wasn't like he could say that out loud. Still, there was something off about the kid.

The feeling of backtracking was really getting on Chris's nerves. As far as he could tell, nothing about the tunnel had changed. If they kept going like this for much longer, they would hit the monsters he and Alabaster had only just escaped.

However, right before reaching the eale again, the coarse stone walls blended into a darker, browner color, with wooden supports lining their route. It looked like an old mine. Actually, it probably was an old mine. The Labyrinth could be weird, but at least that much was self evident.

Alabaster smiled, "It worked, thank the gods. I was worried we'd have another fight to deal with."

"We still could," said Ethan. "It just won't be the same thing you fought before."

"Nice thought, Doom-and Gloom," said Chris.

"I was just saying—"

"Relax. I was just teasing. No need to be defensive."

"Guys—," Alabaster interjected.

"I get it, Alabaster. We shouldn't argue. I'll shut up," Chris sighed.

"Well, yeah, but that's not—," Alabaster began.

"I'm not bothered by a little teasing. No need to coddle me," Ethan muttered.

"That's not what I'm trying to—," Alabaster tried to finish a sentence for the third time.

"Don't attack Alabaster over me."

"I wasn't attacking him, I was just—"

"GUYS, SHUT UP!" This time, Alabaster was the one interrupting. The other two stared at him, ready to be chastised about their behavior. Surprisingly, that wasn't what he did next. "Have either of you ever seen any type of rock like the one embedded in the walls? Naturally, at least?"

They all glanced in unison. The dark brown rock was filled with bits of soft, semi-transparent orange stone that had a soft golden glow to it.

"It looks like amber," said Ethan.

"Um, maybe I'm stupid, but you don't mine amber. It comes from ancient trees," said Chris.

"Actually, you do," said Alabaster. "It's weird. But this stuff looks polished. What sort of miner polishes it before removing it?"

"That's a little creepy," responded Ethan. "But the only thing we can do is keep going. Whatever the mystery here is, it's not the sort of mystery that ends with us all dead."

"I guess," said Alabaster, a reluctant tone in his voice. "But I kind of want to know."

"Keep an eye open then," said Chris. "Ethan's right about this, we can't afford to just stand here and ponder the mysteries of life."

"You're right, both of you. To think, before I brought the amber up you were arguing, and now your practically friends."

_I doubt that, somehow_, Chris thought, exchanging a distrust filled look with Ethan, who was much better at not looking stupid while doing it. _I feel like we're just putting off the inevitable._

* * *

Ethan did not like Chris. It wasn't so much a lack of trust— the guy might let him fall to the floor in a proper trust exercise, and he wouldn't be risking his life to save Ethan, but he did seem to have some respect for Alabaster. Rather, Ethan felt like he was going to end up taking blame for a lot of things that weren't his fault any second. Chris had this look he kept sending Ethan's way, like _why are you here, what are you doing, and I feel threatened by your existence _all rolled into one very expressive glare.

At least he had helped get Alabaster to stop playing detective instead of playing devil's advocate just for the sake of it. There were people who would do that, Ethan believed so anyway. _I hope I wouldn't do that, but you never know anything about yourself until you've made the choice for real._

They were still trekking though the strange amber mine. One thing was certain, by polishing before completing removal, it made the place look much nicer. Soft golden light emanated from the walls, fueled by the flicker of cheap electric lights.

"It's really impressive, how much amber they managed to expose without fully excavating any. And the polishing is really smooth considering the weird angles it would have had to be done at," Alabaster commented, sounding very impressed.

"This again?," Chris teased. "We're going to have to rip you out of this place by force. Or maybe even just leave you behind."

"I was just trying to make conversation, gods," Alabaster retorted with a smile, obviously not actually annoyed.

"Well, you might have to find a new topic soon," Ethan informed his friend. "Look ahead: I see something far more civilized coming our way." About eight or ten yards in front of where they were the mine stopped and a fancy hallway began. As they drew nearer, and eventually entered the hallway, it became possible to pick out more details. The floor was made of marble tiles, and an embroidered carpet was stretched sown the middle. The walls were made of tightly fitted granite blocks, sealed together by mortar. Every few feet there was a table with some ornament upon it— flowers, fruit bowls, paintings, sculptures, and some of the fanciest dishes Ethan had ever seen. Golden chandeliers dangled from the ceiling,

"It looks to me like somebody's loaded," Chris remarked. "Takes a lot of cash to build a place like this."

"Whoever built it is probable going to kill us in three seconds," Ethan replied. "So stop it with the fangirling."

"I'm not—"

"Don't start this again," Alabaster interrupted. "Weapons out, just in case." Three swords left three sheaths.

The hallway ended at a large set of wooden double doors. There had been no sign of anybody, or anything, that wanted to kill them. It was eerie, and all three boys were on edge because of it. _If we wait, the murderous thing will come out eventually. It always does, and we always almost die. _For some reason, that thought made Ethan relax. He was just about to suggest standing still when Chris spoke.

"We should go in."

"What? No way. We should wait here for a little bit, think things through, try to come up with some answers, and hopefully the thing will come to us."

"We'll get answers when we barge in. I'm not waiting around. We need to keep moving."

"Can I suggest a compromise?," Alabaster asked. "Let's knock. That will bring the thing to us and keep us from having to wait." The other boys gestured for him to go ahead. He struck the door three times, and they waited tensely.

The door swung open, revealing a large rectangular chamber decorated as lavishly as the hallway to it had been. A single throne stood on a raised platform on the other side of the room. On it, there sat a woman in her mid-sixties with grey hair and steely eyes, dressed in blue silk and golden jewelry. A tall crown sat upon her head. Around her feet, a pair of lions stretched themselves out lazily. Two guards appeared from behind the massive doors— they must have been the ones who had opened them. The guards moved themselves to stand stiffly on either side of the platform.

"Welcome," said the woman— the queen. "What brings you to the court of Rhea?"

* * *

Alabaster stood still with shock. _Rhea? Queen of the Titans? What could she possibly be doing here?_

"We await your answer to our question. Tell us why you have come here."

Chris spoke up first. "We didn't have much choice in the matter. The Labyrinth led us here, and not for any reason in particular."

"We doubt this. You three, are, after all, on the side of our husband." _There is nothing more annoying than the royal we, calling that right now._

Before either Chris or Ethan could make a snarky comment that would miraculously ruin the situation, Alabaster replied, "We fight for Kronos, but he didn't send us to you. Ethan hasn't even properly enlisted yet. We just want to get out of here."

"We do not like the aims of our husband. He has betrayed us in the past. He ate our children. He ate our _daughters_ though the prophecy told him he need only be wary of a son. We do not aid those that take his side."

"Have the Olympians treated you much better?," asked Ethan. "I mean, you're tucked away beneath the earth with almost no company."

"Our children have not treated us the way we deserve, yes, but they have done us no wrong either. Our court is usually larger than this, but the war against our husband has made them dearly needed elsewhere. Our children will restore them to our service soon enough."

"This kind of reminds me of _King Lear_," said Chris. "Your kids give you a small retinue to keep you happy, then take them away when they fear you might go back to Kronos. Only at least Lear figured out that he was being betrayed. You still believe the lies your kids tell you." Alabaster decided that he was going to have to teach Chris tact if they got out of this alive. _We probably won't though. I mean, she's going to have us killed by royal decree in a few minutes with the way things are going. We might be able to take those guards, but I don't like the look of those lions._

"We do not agree with your assessment of our situation. You will leave us now, or you will die. We give you the choice, demigods." Alabaster felt relieved for a full half second, which was a half second more than usual.

Ethan spoke up,"We're not going to leave." _Ethan, no. _"Your going to decide to come our side of this war before we go anywhere, because it is the best place for you to be." _He's a student in Tact 101 as well, once I get that going._

"Why is fighting alongside our husband so much better than fighting against him?"

"Because," Ethan began. "You never wanted war between your children and the Titans in every version of the myth I've heard. You just wanted their freedom. But they took away your freedom when they showed up. This is a prison, Rhea, just a nicer one than Tartarus. That is how your children repay their debts."

"And Kronos repays his how?"

"Chances are, for your support, he will make you his queen again. No more hiding out in a tiny castle anybody can arrive at if they get lost enough."

"You make a wise point, demigod. We will… consider it. But our castle is not so small as you think." _Okay, maybe to Tact 101 for Ethan._

"Really?," interjected Chris, seemingly having been waiting for an opportunity to fire off his mouth the entire time. _It looks like Tact 101 is not canceled completely._

"Our castle has many different outer sections, though we do not know which one you came through. There are the garden paths, the section made entirely of spun glass, the natural stone section adorned with amber, the underwater section— but you do not wish to listen to us ramble, you wish to continue your journey."

"If it please Your Majesty," said Alabaster.

"Our guards will point you three towards the exit that usually points towards the exit you are looking for. Tell Kronos to expect my reply soon, and to avoid shooting our messenger. It may take an odd form."

The three boys left the Titan queen on her throne, and listen to the guards give directions.


	15. Chapter 15

The Labyrinth blended from marble tiles to wet, gravelly dirt seamlessly, the flawless temple becoming a dark cavern. Alabaster twisted his wrist and muttered a word, creating a small orb of light that hovered above and in front of the boys. Chris blinked rapidly until his eyes adjusted, just in time to dodge a puddle on the floor. A brisk early morning chill hung about the group as they continued down the path.

The son of Hermes still wasn't sure what to think about their impromptu questing party. Alabaster had proved he was a member of the Titan army, so he was obviously trustworthy, but the small Japanese boy was suspicious. Perhaps he really didn't know who his godly parent was, or perhaps it was a ruse to find the location of the army's base. It wouldn't be the first spy that camp had tried to send. Chris was starting to warm up to him a little, though. He had proved that at least he wasn't trying to get them killed immediately.

Chris continued to ponder the merits of his companions as the tunnel grew warmer. Even if Ethan was telling the truth, larger groups were more easily tricked by the Labyrinth. They would have to split up soon, before something else split them by force. At the very least, Chris was the only one not trying to get to the army base. He opened his mouth to suggest that he leave the others at the next fork, but was interrupted by Alabaster.

"What the hell—" he said, staring at the path in front of them. Slicing through the passageway was a glowing river of lava, slow and sluggish but definitely wide enough that they couldn't get across.

"We have to turn around?" Ethan asked no one in particular. "Seriously? Knowing this place, it'll take even longer to get back to the last branch."

"I might be able to cast a spell to harden the lava," Alabaster replied. "But that's a little risky. It's safer just to turn around."

Chris let out an inaudible sigh, and began walking the way they had come. Alabaster's light flew to illuminate the long tunnel, and the boy himself followed a millisecond later. Ethan let out some choice swearwords at the molten rock before catching up with the other two.

Before the lava even got out of sight, the cavern began to shake in quick, jagged, back-and-forth movements. The gravelly floor split apart, and Chris clutched a wall to avoid falling into one of the splintering cracks. He was too dizzy to look for Alabaster or Ethan. The shaking continued, and a crack made its way towards his feet. The ceiling began coming down in chunks, blocking any hopes he had of escape. Defeated, Chris let himself fall.

With a thud, he hit the ground.

* * *

Ethan was alone again. The earthquake had first taken Chris, making him fall to what was likely his death. Ethan had almost been relieved, but before the guilt over his relief could fully hit, the quake sent him flying in one direction and Alabaster in the other. The ground had split between them, making it impossible to get back to each other before the ceiling crumbled and they were separated for good.

Worst of all, the cavern he was in had no apparent exits or entrances.

_Why did I ever leave? Why did I trust the Grey Ladies to bring me to the right place? I could've IM'd Kara and asked for a location but I was stupid and decided to find it myself. I never would've had to enter this place._

He shoved these regrets as far to the back of his mind as he could and tried to focus on finding a way out. _God, this feels just like when I went through that stupid door. All alone, no way out. Is this just my fate?_

Ethan began to try sifting through the rocks around him, trying to expose some crawlspace that would let him get out. It took some effort, but finally a small gap that came up to his waist appeared. _I better fit through that._

In what seemed like the first stroke of good fortune since he had entered the Labyrinth, he did. It was tight, and he had to push his pack through in front of him, but it wasn't a very long tunnel and soon he was on the other side. It looked a lot like the cavern he had just left, only larger, and with an exit. _After I get out of this hellhole, I will never take normal, non-shifting architecture for granted again._

He walked down the stone path, dejected. He'd been in the Labyrinth for days now, and it didn't look like he'd ever be getting out. How was he going to survive? There wasn't much to eat. _I wish monsters didn't become dust when you killed them. I can use any meat I can get. _He shook the thought out of his head, repulsed by his momentary desperation. _I don't need to eat monster just yet._

Alone and frightened, Ethan continued to walk.

* * *

Somehow, Alabaster managed to stand up. The feeling in his gut started to fade. _The Labyrinth is screwed up, but I can't change that. I should've known, but it shouldn't have been._

He had to backtrack. Hopefully, the earthquake had created some new routes to explore, maybe a quicker way to— what was he looking for? _I want the spell, but I also want to be back at the base. Which am I really looking for? _He decided it didn't matter, as there was no way of knowing where either of them was.

Alabaster squeezed though some narrow cracks, ending up it a tunnel that was reminiscent of a hobbit hole: round, barely tall enough, and cozy. It felt safe, really safe, and while that usually was a warning sign things seemed more straightforward in the Labyrinth. Nothing he had met so far had lied about wanting him dead, at least.

That was when the snake's head appeared from under the ground, snapping straight up into the air. It was huge, more than big enough to eat him in one swallow. Alabaster jerked backwards, falling on his rear. He let out a few grumbled cuss words.

The head shot up again, just barely off this time, fortuitously knocking him out of the way instead of snapping him up. Alabaster's head spun. He couldn't think straight. Somehow, he picked himself off the floor and ran.

The snake was at a disadvantage, having to both move faster than him and recover after every missed strike. Alabaster managed to tell when its head was about to pop up by the slight shifting of the dirt, allowing him to dodge the new attacks.

Alabaster thought he could make it give up if he ran long enough, but he had been running for a while now. He pulled out his sword, though it took a while and made him loose speed. Then, he stopped suddenly.

As Alabaster had predicted, the snake tried to pop up exactly where he was, but he sidestepped at the last second. Its head flew by. With a swing of his sword, he managed to chop through its neck.

Alabaster collapsed to the ground.


	16. Chapter 16

Looking up after his fall, Chris saw an old man. Only the old man was transparent and floating. A ghost? He had a crown too. _Is this some dead king?_ The fall had left Chris a bit woozy, making it harder to process this information. The spirit turned his head slowly until dead eyes met living ones.

"Kronos should know better than to send demigods into my labyrinth. Perhaps I need to send him a message."

Chris didn't have time to react before the world shifted. The walls of the cavern were closing in, Chris couldn't breathe, there were bugs under his flesh, or maybe just on his flesh, biting and pricking and crawling.

_Get them off! Get them off, get them off, get them off! _He struggled not to panic. _I can't see anything. There's no light. The walls are so narrow…_

Chris pulled himself forward. _When did I stop standing up? Did I fall? _

_I can't breathe, the bugs are climbing inside me._

_Agh! No, no, it hurts! What's hurting me?_

_Everything._

_It's all coming for me._

_Help!_

* * *

Ethan walked down the rocky tunnel, arms crossed for warmth. _I feel horrible. Not just emotionally, but physically too. And there's nothing here to think about. _

He continued in the same way he'd continued what seemed like a thousand times now: he walked, and kept waking, and hoped with all his might that he would find the right path. There was a fork in the cavern, and he chose to go left, because he hadn't been able to do anything else right lately so why not.

It was very possible Ethan was mad at the world in the unhealthiest way right then.

He kept going though. His eyeballs ached with tiredness— when exactly was the last time he'd slept? _When the drakon injured my, with the Serpent Born. How many days ago was that? Gods, there are so many issues with space in the Labyrinth, why does there have to be problems with time as well? How is that fair?_

One foot at a time, Ethan walked. _I could stop. I could curl up and sleep and starve— and die. That's one way to get out of this place. _He didn't, though he almost did. _Thinking about starving, when was the last time I really ate? I've snacked n the stuff the Serpent Born gave Alabaster while I walked, but when was the last time I sat down and had a meal? Oh my gods, that was still at camp. The last time I had a proper meal, nobody knew I was a defector. Do they suspect now? I didn't leave a note for anyone, but why else would I leave like that? They must know._

Ethan tried to ignore those thoughts. _It shouldn't matter what they think. _He coughed, his instant reaction to smoke. _Wait a second, smoke? Why is there smoke?_

There wasn't to much yet, but Ethan could see that it was getting denser as more came in from an unknown source. His lungs were having difficulty filling now, and coughs shook his entire body with every breath. He struggled forward as fast as he could without running, because there was no way he could sustain a jog while the smoke clogged up his respiratory system.

He saw black spots in front of his eyes. _I'm going to asphyxiate. I'm going to die. I don't want to die. I have too push. I ave to move faster. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. _ He repeated the new mantra again and again and again, hoping it would helm him focus hard enough to survive.

Maybe it did. Or maybe the smoke was enchanted to disappear seconds before death, intended to cause fear but not to kill. Or maybe he had just gotten incredibly lucky. Ethan would never know, but the second he could breathe again, the second his lungs stopped complaining, was one of the happiest seconds of his life. _It's funny how you can take for granted the cornerstones of existence, and then once you almost loose them, you become excessively happy about them._

He had collapsed onto his hands and knees with relief, and as he picked himself up, he notices something strange. The floor, ceiling, and walls of the place he had ended up were all mirrors.

* * *

Alabaster recovered himself slowly, and grabbed a thermos of nectar out of his bag. He drank a little, and the dizziness went away with the taste of marshmallows. _We used to eat these all the time at camp, roasting them over an open fire and tossing magic into the flames to make them change color._

He pulled himself back together, and began to walk. It wasn't that hard, but even that brief pause had made it easier to feel the aches of his body, crying out for him to rest. _I can't rest. There could be more of those snakes around here. _He kept pushing forward.

Eventually, Alabaster stopped noticing the pain, as he had before. It was part of his body now, which was scary and comforting at the same time. He was frightened of the idea that he would never be able to separate his body from pain again. He was relieved that he was going to be able to walk without feeling like he needed to die within the next few seconds.

He began to hum. It probably wasn't the best idea, drawing attention to himself, but it helped him stay calm. Most monsters would be able to smell him already anyways, long before they could hear him. He started with the Beatles, and it wasn't long before he was no longer humming but singing himself. After going through every song he could think of, or at least the scraps he remembered, he just repeated the ones that has stuck in his mind.

_I must look crazy to anyone who sees me_, he thought._ Actually, after spending so much time in this place, I wouldn't be surprised if I was. There's only so much solitude one person can take._

It had been much easier on the way in than it was now, even if it hadn't felt like it. He had been alone for the entire time, then, but he only ran afoul of one volcano goddess before he found the cow that led him right to Geryon. _I spent a day, maximum, the first time and I thought it was torture. This time it's been at least two, and I laugh at my old self._

_But I did have some friends this time, even if the pain of having them ripped away wasn't worth it._

He wondered whether he would ever find that darned spell. The only time he had thought that he had a chance was with Ophion, who had faded and left behind the most unhelpful clue ever. What choice was Alabaster even supposed to make? The Labyrinth hadn't offered him any obvious ones. _And how am I supposed to know which one is right? _

He sighed. At some point, he had stopped singing, distracted by his own thoughts. He began to start again, to relax himself. It didn't work. Alabaster stopped, frustrated at having lost the one thing that had been working for him.

Step by step, he did the same thing he had done a thousand times before, a million different places. He kept walking.


	17. Chapter 17

_I'm back in the arena, and there are so many skulls._

_They're laughing._

_They're attaching to the shadows, coming for me._

_They aren't real. They can't be._

_Don't trust my eyes._

_Don't trust my ears._

_Don't trust my skin._

_Somebody help me._

_Anybody, please._

_Please._

* * *

Ethan glanced around, seeing a million fractal copies of his reflection. It was at his feet, on his sides, above him, ahead of him, behind him. He had passed the transition between the rocks and the mirrors in the smoke, and he'd been too focused on not dying to notice. _Looking at myself in those mirrors is actually really creepy, not to mention making my head spin a little. Or maybe that's just the after effects of the smoke._

Ethan put a hand on one of the walls for two reasons. One, it would help him not accidentally try walking into a mirror, especially if the tunnel had any curves in it. The other reason was that he needed to remind himself that the reflections were trapped behind the glass, in order to settle the paranoia gnawing at his stomach.

_Here I go, _he thought. _Walking once more. Do I do anything else? I run sometimes, I guess. I thought I would get to be a hero, coming into the Labyrinth, but what have I done? I ran from the drakon. Alabaster helped me survive long enough to get taken away from him by a minor goddess who I ran from as fast as my legs could take me. I ran from the Melissae. I negotiated with Rhea. Have I really fought anything the entire time I've been in here? How can I be a hero if I always run or make someone else save me?_

Ethan wondered why he even wanted to be a hero in the first place. He hadn't realized before this that that was what he was trying to do. _I wanted to waltz into the Titan Army having successfully found it because I was goo, because I had skills. But I don't have skills. That's the problem with treating yourself like you are the best you: the best you can handle situations that the real you is gonna get killed in._

The reflections sent a random shiver of fear down his spine. It wasn't based on any real worries— he knew in his mind that they couldn't hurt him. But another part of his brain was spamming images of them crawling past the glass to strangle him, to steal his place and make him the reflection. _I need to get a grip on my brain. I have no control over it, apparently. _

That didn't actually stop him from thinking about being murdered by his infinite reflections. _I wonder if they'd all fight over which one gets to be the real me. Maybe having so many is actually keeping me safe, because if one of them tries it then the others will all get jealous and probably kill it too. _He knew that his thoughts weren't making sense, but at least it was something to think about. Too often in the Labyrinth, boredom had plagued him. At least in this part, he could entertain his mind, even if with one of the creepiest trains of thought that had ever been inside his mind.

The mirrors ended abruptly and evenly. In one place there was silver and glass, and then a step away, there was dark black stone. Ethan was glad to leave his reflections behind. _If they were thinking of murdering me, certainly doesn't matter now. The Labyrinth shouldn't have any trouble finding another way._

* * *

Alabaster thought he was really going crazy when he started to hear the music. It was a strange tune that seemed to weave in and out of its harmony, almost random in its pattern. It reminded Alabaster of humming and birdsong all at once, or the sound of grass growing. _Wait, where did that thought come from? Grass doesn't make sound as it grows. _A shiver went down his spine. _What sort of being can influence my thoughts?_

He looked around the rocky passage he was in. The stone walls were wet and white, and the ground was uneven. As he walked forwards, the music grew louder. He could pick out the sound of a river now, and also the whisper of wind through leaves. They were all strangely coordinated to make the music, acting like instruments.

He continued to walk, expecting something to happen at any moment. The music played as if to calm him, but he was too anxious for its influence to have much effect.

Then he came to the river. It seemed like a fairly normal underground river, but it flowed in ways that made its rushing flow along with the music, accompanying the main humming birdsong melody. The music was clearly coming from the other side. Alabaster had come too far not to cross it. He waded across, though the water came up to his waist. It was cold, and he felt his body react.

He rushed as fast as he could, but fighting the current to walk in a straight line sapped his strength. It took much longer than he would have liked, but finally Alabaster reached the other shore. He pushed himself onward, doing the best he could to ignore the way his wet pants clung to his skin and froze his legs whenever there was the slightest breeze. The song grew even louder.

Alabaster's weariness began to leave him as he approached the source of the music. His head was filled with visions of grassy fields and dense forests. _No. Focus. Don't let other people— or monsters, or whatever— control your thoughts._

The cavern happened suddenly and surprisingly. It was filled with strange, exotic plants that blew in a breeze and sang along to the now deafening song. The walls were studded with multicolored crystals, and the roof was too far off to be anything more than a sparkling surface. Alabaster could have almost mistaken it for the night sky.

In the center of the cavern, there was a wooden, U-shaped bed like the ones used by the Romans. Velvet pillows were littered across it. Strange animals surrounded it. With a jolt, Alabaster realized they were all extinct. There was a dodo bird that hummed one of the main parts of the music, a wooly mammoth, something that wasn't quite tiger but wasn't quite wolf either, and so many other things Alabaster lost track.

On the bed there was a satyr far older than any Alabaster had seen before. He played a set of reed pipes that made unnaturally _natural _noises, like birdsong and wind and rain. His horns were huge, but his head was bowed and all his hair, even the fur on his legs, was turning white. _He sort of looks like Ophion. They seem to be similarly old, anyway. Wait, didn't he mention someone else preparing to fade?_

The satyr stopped playing, and suddenly the music stopped. The river was still rushing and the wind was still blowing through the leaves, but there was no longer anything beautiful or rhythmic about it. The satyr looked straight at Alabaster.

"Go away," he said.


	18. Chapter 18

_What's even real anymore? Am I? Was I ever sane? I thought I was…_

_I miss Mary. I miss my mother. She was good._

_The shadow are so dark, and they laugh so loudly…_

_I miss running. But if I run here, the shadows will see and they'll hold me down. I think I tried that. When was that? How long have I been like this?_

_Crawl for now. Crawl and I'm safe from the shadows._

_At least the bugs are gone, I think. Or maybe I'm just used to them. Who knows? I don't. I don't even know what's real._

_I hope I'm not real. I hope I'm just part of somebody else's story, flat on a page and not real, not in pain._

_But I am in pain, so I think I'm real. I don't want to be real. I want to be a fakey fake shadow on the wall that gets to hurt real things, instead of hurting as a real thing._

_Maybe I should run, and let them get me. Then maybe they'd kill me._

_No, no, that won't work. They're not real, remember? They can't help…_

_Whose the god of insanity? I don't know. _

_What's a god? I can't remember. A special type of parent I think, one that can see everything._

_No. That's wrong. Mary is a parent and Mary would save me if she could see me. If a god is a parent who can see me, I'd be saved._

_Keep crawling. Don't run. The shadows are lurking… they just want an excuse to get me. Follow the rules. Crawl. Be quiet._

_Who's there? NO NO NO NO NO! I already fought. You can't make me fight again, Antaeus!_

_What do you mean I didn't? I thought I did. Didn't I? Maybe not…_

_NO! Stop it! That hurts. Mercy mercy mercy mercy. Stop it. Please… please._

_Somebody help me._

_Please._

_Anybody._

_The shadows are watching._

* * *

Ethan was ready for whatever came next. He wasn't sure what to expect, but there was going to be something— he'd given up on anything ever being easy. _I'm not going to find away out of the Labyrinth by just walking around. That doesn't happen. What does happen is getting attacked by something big and tough. I've got to keep moving, and hopefully I'll find something that's got a secret stash of turkey jerky and water bottles. _He wasn't certain how serious that last thought was. The Labyrinth made everything weirder, he had finally figured out. It was a place where anything seemed possible, except luck. He needed luck. He deserved luck— didn't he? _I don't know. I thought I did, but I thought I could be a hero in the Titan Army too. _

Ethan kept walking. That was all he had ever done in the Labyrinth, but that was also all he could do, so it wasn't a thing that he had done wrong. The Labyrinth had seemed simpler when he had first entered— he'd thought that by keeping a good map in his head, he could at least know that he was going somewhere he hadn't gone before. When he had found out the Labyrinth shifted, the implications should have broken him, but he had just met Alabaster, and was too distracted by his apparent luck. When he had been separated from Alabaster the first time, the idea was already rooted enough in Ethan's head that he didn't break right away.

_But now I'm breaking. Now, I know that there is no finding a way out because the Labyrinth can always twist it out of my reach. There will always be just a little bit more to go, just another stretch, and then it will change just to spite me. I deserve better. I earned it, with the suffering I've gone through. In a fair world, the ones who suffer for what they want get it, and the ones who don't fail. _But the world wasn't fair, and Ethan could do nothing but walk.

He hated how helpless that made him feel. He couldn't be a hero if he couldn't make a difference. There was nothing he could do. _Even if I made it out of here, even if I join the army, I'll just be a foot soldier. I won't do anything important. I can't._

Ethan was so focused on his despair that he almost didn't hear the motorcycle's engine. He stopped, and it stopped beside him. The wheels were strange— missing a slice like pizza that had just begun to be eaten. The woman on top of the bike wore a leather jacket with silver studs on it, and generally looked ready to beat him up.

"Hello," she said.

* * *

Alabaster stared at the satyr with disbelief. "What do you mean 'go away'? Your music led me here. At least be polite about it."

"I play my music to attract the attention of my followers, not to be associated with rebels. Now go. I cannot deal with you, I need all my strength to call for searchers. I plan to deliver a message before I go away for good. Something to secure my legacy, as I am no longer needed on this earth."

Alabaster found the old guy extremely pretentious. "Who even are you?"

"I am Pan, lord of the wild. Perhaps now you see why I am so important?" _Yup. Definitely the guy Ophion mentioned._

"Not really, no. I was a decent audience for the last fading guy I met." Alabaster usually kept his commentary inside his head, but he had been through too much to just let himself get pushed aside. His patience had been completely worn away.

Pan seemed too shocked by the statement to continue trying to get Alabaster to leave. Finally, he managed to respond.

"Is there anything I could give you to make you go away?"

"There's a spell out there somewhere that can help me through this hellhole. Do you know anything about where it's hidden?"

Pan smiled, "Good, you chose something simple. Take only right turns, and keep the thought of the spell at the forefront of your mind. Now _go. _I can already feel the toll this is taking on my presence." _So that's what Ophion meant about making the right decisions. I don't know why he had to be so cryptic, though._

Alabaster left the gorgeous cavern, waded back through the river, and froze his butt off walking through the passage of white rock until he could find a fork with which to test Pan's information. However long it had seemed to take to get to the cavern, going back felt longer. Knowing the Labyrinth, it probably was.

Finally, there was a split. A chute of volcanic rock went off to the left, and ruddy orange sandstone carved with stick figures extended to the right. Alabaster focused on the spell, on the allure of being home again, as hard as he possibly could, and walked into the orange passage.

There were more forks, and every time Alabaster went to the right and thought as hard as he could about the spell, about what he would do with the spell, even about what his homecoming might be like. As he continued, the carvings on the wall grew more complex, even as the stone underneath them changed. After the stick figures were hieroglyphics and other pictograms, then Ancient Greek, followed by Latin, followed by languages that were still around, with some languages Alabaster couldn't recognize sandwiched in between.

The passage ended in a room of marble, veins streaked though with colors that couldn't have occurred naturally. On the walls were carved a mixture of Ancient Greek and Latin, the two languages Alabaster was used to casting magic in. He was slightly relieved at seeing this, as the variety of the carvings had begun to worry him.

Staring at the walls, he began to piece together the spell.


	19. Chapter 19

_I thought I had friends. Weren't there friends? People in here with me, to help me, and for me to help them. No, no there was one friend. Stone. Some type of stone. And he had a friend who wasn't quite my friend with the blue eyes that looked wrong for some reason._

_No. No. The blue eyes were my brother's. He sent me down here. And stone cant be a friend. Stone hurts when you crawl over it, and tempts you to run, and then the shadows get you._

_I had other brothers. And sisters. And other ones, but only people who could keep up with us._

_That's too weird. No. I don't think they were real. There's an invisible razor in your head you use to shave away the unlikely options, I think. The occult razor? A camera's razor?_

_Those don't make sense. Maybe the razor isn't real either._

_The bugs came back. I want them out, I want them out! But I can't do anything._

_Why can't I do anything?_

_I think they dug rivers into my cheeks. That's the only explanation for the water I feel. It keeps pouring, springing from my eyes and I can't stop it. _

_Maybe somebody else can stop it for me._

_But I don't know anyone who's real anymore…_

* * *

The woman in the leather jacket stepped off her motorcycle after putting down the kickstand. She took off her helmet and hung it off the seat.

"Ethan," she said, strangely wistful. She was pale, with short, spiky black hair. She looked fairly Asian, and she shared Ethan's out-of-place deep blue eyes.

"Who are you?" _There are probably lots of monsters and gods who try to look like you to lure you into a false sense of security. She doesn't have to be my mom. It's actually not very likely. Just stay calm. _These thoughts were shattered as she spoke again.

"I'm your mother, Ethan. Can't you see the resemblance? I made myself look like this just for you."

"What do you normally look like, then?"

"Whoever you felt has wronged you the most. Well, not you specifically. It varies depending on who's looking."

"Why? That doesn't seem like it would inspire many positive responses."

She straightened her posture, as if filled with pride. "I am Nemesis, goddess of retribution. I do not desire positive responses."

"Oh. Why didn't you ever claim me before? If you're willing to talk to me in person, it's a much smaller favor."

"What would be the point? I have no cabin, no more than I have a throne on Olympus. The Olympians are unjust, and I seek to deliver their retribution."

"Have you joined Kronos then? Can you take me to him?

"I have, and I could, but I will not. You have journeyed far, Ethan, but you do not yet understand the power of revenge, and I would like to have a chance to teach you first. Come with me. I have a place, one last place, where my power is intensely strong. Come there, and I will teach you."

He pondered this option for a moment. It wasn't what he wanted. He didn't need reeducation, he needed to be in a place that he belonged. But what he wanted more than that was revenge for how he had been treated at camp, waiting eternally for something that couldn't happen just because his godly parent wasn't one of the twelve that were considered the most important. _Shouldn't I at least try to understand what I want?_

"I'll go."

"Get on the back of the motorcycle, then," she said. He sat behind her and put his arms around her waist. _It's kind of nice to hug my mother. Not a lot of demigods get to do that, even if they're claimed. I can almost pretend she's one of those biker moms._

He didn't have a helmet, and Nemesis didn't offer one. He didn't really need one, seeing how good she was at driving, although he might have been worried if it weren't for the fact that she was a goddess. They rode right out of a tunnel onto a driveway in front of a mansion.

"We're here," Nemesis said. Ethan slid off, and she chained the bike to the porch.

"Before we go in, there's some rules you must follow once we are inside. Most can be learned on your own, but others I will tell you now. Always address me as 'my lady'. I didn't want to ask for this the first conversation you have ever had with me, but it is important for you to show me respect. The second is to never ask anything of me beyond what is necessary. There are books inside the house, a television, food, and a room set aside for you. You should not need much more than this. Do you still want to come?"

"Yes." Ethan followed her through the door.

* * *

It took an hour or two, but Alabaster checked to make sure he knew the word order and pronunciations of the entire spell. Once he began, excessive hesitation or attempts to stop entirely would result in his death or serious mutilation. _Starving would take care of the former in the case of the latter, actually, so death all around. Di immortales, my thoughts are confusing._

Slowly, Alabaster began to speak. He gathered up speed as he continued, but the transitions between lines were confusing and inconsistent. He felt glad that he had mapped it all out beforehand. The spell was full of requests for the Labyrinth to stop shifting for the time it would take him to get out, pleading for the forces that drove it to show mercy, and for some reason, invoking the four winds. Alabaster didn't really understand how powerful the wind could be underground, but maybe he was just missing something obvious.

He kept stumbling over the line transitions, but he made it through. There was a moment were nothing happened, and his heart filled with panic. But then the carved words began to glow with a soft golden light, and a persistent breeze came from nowhere to blow across Alabaster's face.

Soft gold powder came from the letters, and the breeze picked it up and whooshed it out of the room. Alabaster took a second to register what was happening, then quickly ran after it. More gold powder follows the first bit, dancing forward in a shimmery cloud.

The corridors they went through were a lot like the ones that had taken him to the spell, a variety of languages carved into many types of rock. They weren't in any particular order this time, though. Alabaster sneezed his way through dozens of them while following the spell. He wished there was some way to stop himself from spraying mucus everywhere, but the powder itched at the inside of his nose terribly.

At some point, he realized that the magical cloud reached all the way back to the room where the spell had been still, and that he could walk without losing his guide. Slowing down felt nice, and his lungs calmed themselves down in gratitude. _I'm almost there. Almost to the real world, where I don't have to worry about my next meal or if the place that I'm sleeping in will be somewhere else entirely by the time I wake up. I'll be free._

It felt good to realize that, though the formation of the thought was interrupted by quite a few sneezes before it actually shaped itself nicely like that.

When Alabaster saw daylight, a strange noise erupted from his throat, like a shout but not quite structured enough. It was a sound of triumph that seemed impossible, of disbelief mingled with hope. Alabaster to the end of the last corridor at full speed. The light was coming from a gap in the rock above a nearly imperceptible door. He brushed his fingers across the letter delta engraved into it, and walked out of the cliff face that Luke had sent him through what seemed like an eternity ago.

His eyes burned immediately, and he reflexively closed them. Slowly, with a lot of blinking, he got them to adjust. Although it was slightly chill both inside and outside the tunnel, sweat that could not possibly be any other fluid trickled down his cheeks from immediately under his eyes.

With a sound that was definitely not a sob, Alabaster began to walk the last little bit to home.


	20. Chapter 20

_Mary, are you here? Is that you? Why are you here?_

_You don't look right._

_No, no, no! You're fake. You're fake just like everything else._

_Get away!_

_It's funny Mary, you almost look like someone else. I had a crush on her back at camp, but that was decades ago. She liked me too, I thought._

_But I left._

_No, no! Don't come any closer. If it's not real then it can't come near me. That's my rule._

_But nothing's real._

_I told you to stay away! Where are you taking me?_

_Please, I need to stay away from the shadows. They're coming for me._

_Where's this house from? I don't remember this._

_No, no, I'm just making things up now. There's going to be something terrible in there, don't make me go._

Clarisse fought him, and dragged him into her home.

* * *

Months passed at the house of Nemesis.

Ethan learned about revenge.

The scales of luck were balanced precariously, with one side presided over by Tyche, who would give everyone she liked whatever they wanted and everyone she disliked absolutely none if left unchecked. Her whims allowed for the wild randomness of the universe, the strange serendipities and the life saving coincidences. But she was also responsible for when hard work amounted to nothing because of a single accident and the terrible people who seemed to get everything they desired. Nemesis was Tyche's foil, fixing things so that people got what they earned. Where Tyche would try to line up the world for a company to buy up an entire neighborhood, Nemesis would ensure that a few stubborn folks would refuse to sell. Tyche might let a millionaire win the lottery, but Nemesis would cause trouble when he tried to cash the ticket. If Tyche placed gardening tools where a fleeing hero could use them to save his life, Nemesis might break them.

The other guests of the house were mostly clear-sighted mortals with bruises and cuts who not only needed but deserved a place to stay away from whoever gave them the injuries. Too many of them were Ethan's age or younger. Too many of them were girls of any age who had tried and failed to tell someone about the man who had attacked them because of short skirts and a few beers. There were others too, and all of them cycled through quickly, staying only a few days before facing the world again.

Nemesis let the worst cases in even if they could be fooled by the Mist.

Ethan learned how to treat wounds quickly, both emotional and physical. Most of the guests would try to refuse his help at first, telling him that they could manage just fine.

He always replied,"This place only appears to those who have earned help. Let me help you." It worked only sometimes, but it was often enough. He learned how to create silences that weren't quite awkward, and how to talk without invading personal boundaries.

The first rule of working in the house of Nemesis was to never presume.

The second rule was to ask whether someone wanted something, but never ask about their outside world.

The third was to always sympathize, but never try to empathize.

The fourth was to know that all these solutions were only temporary.

Ethan found the house still, silent, and sad, as if it was constantly mourning someone. It probably was. In May, he decided he was going to leave, mind stained with fading memories of a brown-haired girl who deserved to know the effect of her scribbled words on her once-maybe friend and the fantasies of a valiant army fixing what was wrong. He asked Nemesis for permission to leave after breakfast one day. His mother acquiesced.

"Ethan Nakamura, before you go, I will make you a deal." Ethan was nervous, but he trusted his mother enough to let her continue. "You will need luck to navigate the labyrinth safely."

"My lady, what would you need to give me that gift?"

She paused, staring at him with almost regret. "A permanent sacrifice. I was thinking something along the lines of an eye."

"My eyes?" Ethan paled.

"Just one."

"I-I'll take the deal." The goddess pulled a slender knife out of thin air and held Ethan's face firmly.

He screamed, unable to help himself. But after the wound was bandaged and hidden under an eyepatch, as he reentered the impossible maze, he felt much safer that he ever had before.

* * *

Alabaster hobbled back into the Titan's camp without fanfare. He didn't think anybody had even noticed he had returned. Everyone was exactly the same as usual. There were soldiers sparring in the yard, dracaena hissing the latest gossip at each other, cyclopes in the forge, and a general sense of family. Alabaster thought about Ethan. _Has he made it? He wasn't very well cut out for the journey, and he was all alone…_

His mind drifted from there to Chris. _I didn't talk to him much, but he obviously loved this place. I guess I'll find out soon._

Alabaster saw one of his sisters— Mary Lou, bless her heart— conspiring with some of the other girls. He knew he should say hello. He didn't know why he didn't. He kept walking, leaving her behind.

As a soldier, the first thing he should have done was report to Luke and tell him of Geryon's deal. As a brother, he should have gone and hunted down his siblings. Alabaster didn't particularly feel like doing either. So he walked.

He didn't notice the laps he was making around the camp until the third one. On the fifth, a daughter of Iris under his command checked to see if he was alright. He shrugged her off and continued to walk. On lap number eight, Luke himself came down.

"Alabaster. Good to see your back. Anything to report?" There was a hug that Alabaster was not expecting. It made him smile, and he hugged the blond back.

"Geryon is offering small monsters for one hundred and fifteen drachma apiece, with further negotiations necessary for larger ones. Oh, and we found the court of Rhea. I need to talk to you in depth about that once I've gotten my head straight."

"Is that all?"

"I met Chris on the way back, but we got separated pretty quickly. And there was an Asian kid trying to find his way here too. Ethan? Have either of them made it back?"

Luke shook his head. "No. I'm sorry." Alabaster felt bad seeing the expression on his face after being reminded of his lost brother.

"Anyway, welcome home. You've been missed." With that, Luke left. Alabaster walked back to his tent, straining to remember its location. A gaggle of Hecate kids had gathered there to greet him, Mary Lou among them.

They greeted him with hugs and laughs, talking over each other in their attempts to catch him up on all the latest gossip. They asked him questions too, and he tried to answer them without making things akward.

"So," asked one brother. "All in all, how was it?"

"Strange," Alabaster replied. "Sometimes fun, sometimes soul crushing. There were a lot of little things that seemed so important that I don't think really were. But mostly, I'm just glad to be back at home."

The first real grin he'd had in a long time blossomed upon his cheeks.


End file.
